Cat'O'Nine Tails
by Kaze and Kiba
Summary: Sakura you are being sent undercover to capture Uchiha Itachi, and any other Akatsuki you come into contact with, while on your mission. Ha. Yeah right, just let me get my big net and ass kicking boots...What do you mean when you say 'Disguised as a cat?
1. Chapter 1

A/N Ah, I'm starting a new story.

Yes, it is a cat story.

No, it is _not_ like any cat story, dog story, puppy story, fox story, etc. that you have seen in fanfiction. It's _not_ crackish or too cutesy, I hope, but it will be humorous/adventure.

I have my own plot and it doesn't resemble any others that I have seen. I actually got the idea for my cat story plot when I saw the Neco-baa-chan and nincats Sasuke went to visit in the anime before he went to fight Itachi. This story takes place much sooner, when the only Akatsuki dead is Sasori.

Cat-O-Nine Tails

Chapter One

Thinking Out Of The Box

0o0o0

Konohagakure no Sato

0o0o0

Sakura pulled back from the microscope and tiredly rubbed her eyes. The light was dim in the hospital's basement lab, except for the illumination from the high-powered microscope and the small desk-lamp set up next to the stack of papers that she was currently writing notes on.

It had taken her most of the last four weeks since she'd come home from Suna, but her diligence was paying off. She'd spent every night in the lab breaking down the exact components on formula of the poisons used by Akasuna no Sasori. Now she had the exact formulas used by the s-class Sand ninja. They were hers and they were a powerful weapon.

She'd broken it down enough while still in Suna to come up with an antidote that worked, but it was half-assed at best and she knew it. Sakura'd been trying to save a comrade and there was no time for exact formulas and the perfection that she would normally strive for. As a result, Kankuro, as well as she herself, was still suffering muscle fatigue and damage to some organs. The only other person to be poisoned and keep fighting, Chiyo-obaa-san, had died saving Gaara.

The formula she just tested was going to erase that damage for Kankuro. She knew this because she had been testing it on herself and it was now perfect. She thought she might even share the poison along with the antidote with Kankuro. Many puppet masters liked to use poison with their weapons to make them more effective and without him she would not have figured it out. She decided she would definitely be trying it out a little, now she had a perfect antidote to such a deadly weapon.

She set her pen down and stretched her arms up high, popping her spine. She'd been at this for the last six hours without a break and her stomach was complaining.

"Haruno-san," a voice spoke from a darkened corner of her lab.

She looked back and a dog-faced masked man stepped from the shadows. The ANBU had been so silent she hadn't even felt him enter the lab.

'I must be really tired, to let my guard down so much,' she thought.

"Yes?"

"Hokage-sama wishes for you to come to her residence as soon as possible."

Sakura looked at the clock on the wall, 'What could Tsunade want at three in the morning?' She had no idea.

"Is someone hurt?"

"I don't think so, Haruno-san."

"Ok, I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Arigato, Inu-san."

Sakura knew the ANBU behind the mask. She had worked with almost every individual in ANBU at one time or another, but it was considered extremely bad form to call out their real names while they were masked. Besides, you never knew where there might be spies, and to let others know of their identity was dangerous to the ANBU ninjas. The anonymity gave them freedom to lead a slightly more normal life when they weren't working.

Sadly, with the threat of Akatsuki now on the five nations, the ANBU was being run ragged—more were killed every month.

There was one less Akatsuki now, thanks to Chiyo-baa-san. Together they had defeated her grandson, Sasori, but the price had been too high. Granny Chiyo along with dozens of jounin and some of the Kazekage's closest advisors had been killed in the Suna battle against only two Akatsuki. These s-class nin were just too freakishly strong and they posed an ominous threat to the five nations.

Sakura turned off the microscope and desk lamp before picking up her files. The dark lab was no maze to her, having spent years doing research here. She padded over to the small fridge in the corner and grabbed the large bento she'd left there when it was delivered earlier that day.

When she got to work on something as interesting as this poison she often forgot to eat, so it had become a habit to pre-order a bento from her favorite sushi joint for days she worked in the lab. They always made sure she had a variety of goodies and sent it over to the hospital. If she had to waste time to decide about things like that, she would probably end up skipping more meals in exchange for getting more lab work underway. She really got a high from breaking the mysteries of medicine. There was even bathroom with a shower here, if she needed it and a cot for her to crash on, if she got too involved a case to go home and sleep.

Sakura locked the lab and sealed the door. She wasn't taking any chances of espionage after the breakthroughs she'd had this week.

Taking her bento and the files for Tsunade she left the hospital and walked over to the Hokage's mansion. It wasn't really a mansion, that was kind of a running joke. It was a nice, big, two-story home, built close to the Hokage's offices and with superior security to protect it. It was the home of any Hokage and their family while they were in office.

The entrance was on the second floor and Sakura climbed the stairs to the large double doors. She reached out to knock and another voice spoke from the shadows.

"You are expected, Hurano-san. Please enter."

Sakura nodded her thanks and opened the heavy door to hear laughter.

'Well it can't all be bad news,' she thought going in. She slipped out of her sandals and into a pair of slippers provided for guests.

"Nya. Hello, pretty lady."

Sakura looked up, meeting the bright, golden eyes of a pretty, grey cat sitting on the high table where she'd set down her stuff while changing shoes.

"Did you just talk to me?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"Did you bring yums, nya?" the curious cat most certainly had spoken.

"Um…yes, it's sort of my dinner."

"You'll share, nya?"

"I suppose I could," Sakura said slowly. "Who are you?"

"He's just an idiot," another voice spoke from the floor. Sakura looked around to see an orange tabby coming from the shadows.

"I'm no idiot," the first cat grumbled.

"You're no nin-cat, either, blabbermouth. What kind of nin-cat shows stealth by revealing himself and talking to the enemy?"

"Me?" Sakura pointed at herself. "I'm the enemy?"

"Nyan. Well now, we don't know that, but this dimwit would have given us away if you were, right?"

The pink-haired girl nodded silently.

"She smells nice, nya, and she brought yums," the grey cat purred.

"Tsunade-san knows you're here, doesn't she?" she asked the cute, talkative kitty.

"Nya, we came with Mistress to visit her."

"Mistress?"

"Nya, Mistress Neko-Obaa-chan. She's drinking with Tsunade-chan.

"Tsunade…chan?"

"We've known Tsunade since she was a little girl."

"Really? I didn't know cats lived such long lives," Tsunade had been around awhile despite looking so young, thanks to her special youth jutsu.

"Nin-cats," the cat corrected her, "Nya, what's your name, pretty lady?"

"Haruno Sakura, desu. Hajimemashite, nin-cat-san," Sakura bowed her head.

"Nya, Sakura-chan! Douzoyoroshiku! I am ninja-warrior neko Denka, desu—and this is Hina-sama. Nnayan!"

"Are you always so cheerful, Denka-kun?" He reminded her of another over-exuberant knucklehead she knew.

"He is," the orange tabby, Hina-san, growled.

"Sakura! Get your ass in here! I want you to meet someone special."

"Hina-san, how many bottles have they had?"

"I believe they are on their fifth," the orange tabby answered.

"Wonderful. Feeling no pain but not enough to puke yet," Sakura sneered.

Sakura entered the Hokage's living space. It was large room with sunflower-yellows walls, delicate sheers, velvet curtains and huge pillows everywhere with small, low tables spaced here and there in between. The fabrics were beautiful shades of turquoise in a mix of silks, cottons, and velvets, with gold trims and brocades. Interspersed here and there were smaller, colorful pink and orange pillows. The whole effect was very casual and kind of amusing. It was the exact opposite of Tsunade's stuffy office, and probably just what she needed to unwind after the stress of dealing with death and politics all day long. Her drinking was probably helping keep her sane too with all the worries of the world dropped on her shoulders daily.

Tsunade looked like a princess holding court in her lavender, silk pajamas. There were a half dozen kittens running around play-fighting between pillow mountains while the two women holding court laughed and drank. The heady scent of sake was heavy in the air.

"Good evening, Sakura-chan. Come inside and have a seat."

"Evening? It's nearly morning, Tsunade," Sakura corrected.

The buxom, blonde ninja waved her observation aside, "Come, meet an old friend of mine. I've known her since before I was a genin. She's a good friend of my great-grandfathers, and an old Loremaster of the Uchiha's."

"But…that would make her..."

"Ancient dear, say it once, but don't harp on it. You may call me Neko-baa-chan."

She held her sake cup up to Sakura, "To your health, dear."

"Arigato. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu, Neko-baa-chan," Sakura bowed deeply.

When she came up she looked closer at the attractive lady, who certainly did _not_ look ancient. "Um…I don't want to be rude, but…do you have _cat_ ears?"

"What!" the silver-haired female exclaimed loudly grabbing her head. Sakura put her hand over her mouth, embarrassed for saying something so stupid.

The lady smiled at her kindly.

"Of course I do, dear. Don't worry, you didn't offend me."

Tsunade was laughing into her sake cup.

"She got you good, Sakura!" Tsunade giggled, taking another drink.

"Very funny, Shishou. May I ask why you called me out in the middle of the night?"

"Sit down, Sakura-chan… is that a sushi bento from Manjas? Oh, Neko-chan, we're in for a treat!"

Sakura sighed, 'At least I'll get _some_ dinner,' she thought. She opened the bento and set it on the table. Six kittens and the two, older nin-cats lined up in a neat silent row at the tableside making Sakura laugh. Neko-baa-chan's ears atop her head actually moved forward with interest when she opened the lid.

"It's beautiful, my dear! Are they open all night?"

"No, I was busy in the lab so I left my dinner in the fridge. There's plenty, please help yourself.

Tsunade took the chopsticks and broke them apart. Before each kitten and cat she set a pretty piece of sushi.

"Douzo," Tsunade smiled at their cute, sweet faces.

"Itadakimusu!" the cats meowed thanks before delicately eating their meal.

Sakura was enchanted watching them relish the treat. She sat down, pulling out 2 extra sets of chopsticks from the sack handing one to Neko-baa-chan and breaking apart her own. The three women said thanks and began to enjoy the masterfully made sushi. Neko-chan poured Sakura a cup of sake while Tsunade perused the report from the lab.

Sakura put her hand up, "I shouldn't be drinking, Shisou. I plan on going back to work tonight."

"Nonsense! You deserve it if this report is true. Congratulations on your find. I'll have word sent right away so Kankuro-san can receive the proper follow up."

"Thanks, Shisou," Sakura lifted the cup and they toasted her success.

"Kampai!"

0o0o0

Two hours and many bottles of sake later the three women were talking animatedly.

"Is it true you are a Loremaster for the Uchiha clan?" Sakura queried.

"Yes. What's left of them. Though if they maintain the path they are on, I'm afraid they will soon be extinct," the sage said wisely.

"That's why I called you here, Sakura-chan. Some new evidence has come to light about the elder brother about that puts his actions into a new light."

"What are you saying?"

"What I'm saying is that I need to capture him to find out if there was more to the massacre then what appeared." Tsunade explained. "There's evidence the order to exterminate the clan came from a higher up, but there's definitely not enough clues right now to prove my theory either way yet. If those two impulsive brats kill each other off no one will ever be able to bring the real culprit to justice."

"'Nade, dear, are you sure this child is strong enough to bell the cat?"

"I have absolute faith in Sakura, both as a kunochi and the best chance to save the Uchiha boys from themselves. She has my strength and knowledge and she cares about at least one of the Uchiha boys as much as you do both. I know she can succeed. Besides, there's no way I can leave Konoha for a month unnoticed, and forgive me, Neko-chan, I know you're strong, but you are getting on in years."

"Well I pray that someone can knock some sense into the boys. With our help perhaps she could-"

"Ah, excuse me," Sakura interrupted, "I'm still in the room. Could you let me in on this mission I'm supposed to undertake?"

The two elder women looked at each other and Neko-baa-chan nodded.

"Haruno Sakura, you are being sent undercover to capture Itachi Uchiha, and any other Akatsuki you come into contact with, while on your mission."

Sakura laughed, "Hai, ok, just let me go get my big net and ass kicking boots—I'll be right back." She made to rise as a joke but Tsunade looked dead serious. She sat back down.

"How in the _hell_ am I going to capture _any_ member of Akatsuki? I barely escaped with my life last time _and_ I had help."

"Oh, you can do it, Sakura-chan. This time your help will be even better."

"Better? Who?"

"Us," they both told her with smug, cat-like smiles.

0o0o0

0o0o0

"You want to use _what_!"

"Magic, dear, they'll never know what hit them."

"If it is so easy how come it hasn't been done already?"

"Because, my sweet girl, I have never been one to meddle in the affairs of men. Normally. But now, these two are foolishly going to exterminate an ancient race of ninja with their stupid pride. It's high time I stepped in."

"But you said you couldn't."

"The boys know me too well, dear. Itachi would know it's me from a mile away."

"Sakura, if you capture Itachi then Sasuke will head straight for Konoha and we can settle things properly, force them to work out what happened without more killing."

"You'll definitely make this old woman happy if you can do it, Sakura-chan," Neko-chan purred.

"I am willing to do whatever I can to save Naruto and foil Akatsuki plans. If it brings Sasuke home, all the better, but… Do you really think we can make it work?"

Both women and the elder cats nodded at her.

"Ok, tell me what I have to do, Shisou."

0o0o0

0o0o0

Neko-baa-chan brought out two, light-pink collars with a small white bell attached to them both and handed one to Sakura and Tsunade with a stern warning.

"Do _not_ read the inscription aloud yourselves, _ever_ or let anyone else you don't wish to capture during the first month."

Sakura turned hers over to read and noticed two things. The first was that the words seemed to move. What at first seemed mere scribble slowly became legible script.

It said:

'Your soul is tied to my heart.' Sakura felt the compulsion to say it allowed but resisted on the Loremaster's advice.

The second thing she noticed, "Ne, Neko-baa-chan, the bell does not ring."

"Of course not dear, it will only ring when the spell is activated."

"Oh," Sakura said, not quite understanding.

"You must get the man or woman you intend to capture alone with you. The inscription will become clear to them and they will be compelled to read it aloud. When they do, the bell will ring and they will be ensnared."

"That sounds too easy."

"Not as easy as it sounds, dear. First, you will be in the form of a cat. Next, you must find a way to infiltrate their base, and then endear yourself to them so they will let you stay there and finally, corner each one alone to trap them. Some might want to kill you, not everyone tolerates felines. You also have to keep them from figuring out your motives, as you will take on the form of a cat for a whole month. The last few days of the month you may lose some control over the spell so you'll have to be extra cautious who reads it. Most important, don't forget, if you lose your collar during that month, you may not ever change back to a human."

"Wait, I have to take the form of a…"

"Cat. Yes, dear, for a whole cycle of the moon, about 29.5 days. Once the change leaves you, it will come to them. You must get them away from the rest of your enemies in stealth to keep the magic intact. Tsunade will also be keeping you under the spell while you're gone, and help you control your captives when you return."

"How will I fool them? I know nothing about being a cat."

"We'll teach you, Sakura-chan," Denka volunteered and all the kittens meowed in agreement.

"You'll get a crash course today from these guys and tonight I'll be 'officially' sending you on a five week mission to Sand. You'll come back here to my house later today in secret and Neko-baa-chan and I will be transferring the spells to you. You'll have enough to capture nine Akatsuki, if you can, with Itachi being your main target. We have to do this now at the moon's new cycle or wait another month and those boys might kill each other by then. After the spell begins you'll have about three days to get to the last known and most trusted sightings I have of the Akatsuki member Uchiha Itachi—in Grass country. Three days after the spell begins the moons changing will turn you into a cat for 29.5 days and your mission begins. During that time I will not be able to help or contact you, but when you come back I will be helping you police the group through our collars.

We will be attached to these criminals for a full three years. If either one of us dies in that time they are all doomed to remain cats forever. We can also remove the spell, causing this to happen will be punishment if they are beyond rehabilitation, it is irreversible. Those that live out their punishment peacefully in this village, and contribute to Konoha's welfare, will be returned to their original forms as a reward."

"We are to be tied to them for three full years?" Sakura was stunned.

"Yes. We have to make sure the jinchuurikis rituals will never be finished. They have less than three years to complete that mission, or they will fail to assume the Jinchurikis' power."

"Oh, that makes sense. I guess."

"One thing more, after you change back. In time of need we can call one or all under the spell to our aid with the collars simply by thinking their names and touching the bell. Once a month during the full moon they will return to human form for about twenty four hours but the contract with us still holds, they cannot kill us or they'll remain cats forever if we die. We also must be their guardians for you cannot have take, without some give. We must also protect them, if they were to die we will live on, but we will feel the loss greatly."

"We? As in…"

"Haruno Sakura, this long term S-rank mission will take you the next three years of your life. If you have the _slightest_ bit of doubt in your abilities let me know right now and I will find a suitable replacement," Tsunade sounded once more like the Hokage.

"I can and will finish this mission, Shisou," Sakura nodded her head respectfully.

"Good girl. The other details can be worked out when you return home. Now prepare yourself. Neko-chan is going to give you your first experience as a cat and you will spend today learning. We have to hurry, the next full moon is in four days and we must have you in Grass by then. You will be able to speak the human tongue with us as a cat for now, but once in Grass you will speak only in cat language to help hide your true identity. Are you ready?"

"Why not? Once begun—"

"—Sooner done," Neko-chan finished, standing up. Placing her hands on the young kunochi she began chanting and by the time she finished Sakura had disappeared and a pretty, little, sleek-haired, white cat had taken her place. Neko-chan put her collar and her and spoke. "How are you feeling dear?"

"Short…and furry," Sakura purred and picked up a paw to examine it with large verdant eyes, "but I'm ok."

"Sakura-chan!" The kittens meowed, "Come on, let's play!" The kittens called to her and she followed them, awkward at first, on four legs but soon began she bounding playfully with them.

"Neko-chan, I have to get ready for work. Will you be ok here with the little ones?"

"Don't worry, princess. We'll have Sakura feeling confident as a feline by the end of the day."

"Thank you, Neko-baa-chan. You're not only helping the Uchiha boys, your saving the boy I see as my own grandson, along with countless others by declawing the Akatsuki."

"My pleasure, dear. It's not right when the balance of power swings too far. We'll get it back on an even keel. Now go get ready for work I'll talk to you later."

0o0o0

0o0o0

"Shizune, draw up some papers, I'm sending Sakura on a mission. The _official _destination will be Suna," Tsunade told her assistant.

Shizune knew this wording to mean she was to ask no questions and give out no info on the girl's mission, even after it was completed. S-class.

"Yes, ma'am, right away."

The ever faithful assistant hurried to complete the order while Tsunade laid her head on her desk to catch a cat nap after staying up all night.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Sakura and the cats played for what seemed like hours. She asked Hina-chan and Denka-kun a hundred questions, some silly, others not. They chased each other and they even found a few mice in the cellar. Denka taught her the best way to trap and kill mice and by the time they were finished Sakura was confident but worn-out.

"How do you do it? I am so tired," Sakura commented.

"We're cats. We do as we please. Whether it's play, hunt, or sleep—any time of day. We have no master but ourselves."

"But you call Neko-chan master, or rather, mistress."

"Only out of respect, and she knows this. Come," Hina-chan led them upstairs.

"Where are we going?"

"To sleep, of course. What else?" Denka-kun told her. The kittens bounded back to the living room before them calling Neko-chan.

"But it's the middle of the day!"

"Who cares? Cats do as they please. Come here."

"What?"

"Cats like to sleep together or with their people, come nap with us. Think of it as bonding. It will be the best way for you to get close to your target."

"I should sleep with them?"

"Yes, and let them pet you, love you."

"Love! These are evil men!" the small, white, girl-turned-cat was stunned.

"You'll find a way into their hearts, you'll see. Humans love and trust most animals in ways they would never other humans. They are not threatened by us. We are pleasing to look at—they can't help themselves."

Sakura curled up with the kittens around Neko-chan. It was amazingly warm.

Neko-baa-chan began stroking Sakura's fur and it felt so comforting, so wonderful, she found herself purring loudly as she drifted off to sleep.

'Perhaps this might not be so bad,' she thought lazily.

0o0o0

When Sakura woke she was back to her normal body with cats sleeping all over her. She laughed a little and sat up.

"Well dear, do you think you've had sufficient training for your mission?"

"Yes, thank you. It was an incredible experience. I will do my best."

"Of course you will, my dear. Bring our boys home and we will straighten them out together once and for all. Then you can stop worrying so much over that young man and begin to enjoy yourself."

Sakura turned red with embarrassment.

"Think nothing of it dear. You need to be a little selfish sometimes, and hope for your own dreams. You deserve happiness too."

Sakura nodded, keeping her mouth shut.

"Do you have any details you need to wrap up before you leave?"

"Oh yes. I need to talk to my landlord and secure the lab."

"Go see Tsunade for your mission scroll before you come back here. We'll be performing the rites for the spell tonight to get you on your way."

"Yes, ok. See you later."

0o0o0

0o0o0

Sakura took care of business and told Kakashi to tell Naruto goodbye. He would keep an eye on her place, bringing Naruto by to clean out the fridge for her. She cleaned out and stored all suspended experiments, cleaned out her lab fridge and locked the lab down. She made sure the instructions had been sent for Kankurou's follow up care and lastly knocked on the Hokage's door.

"Come in," Shizune called. She nodded hello to Sakura and wished her good luck with a hug, before closing the door.

"Does she know?"

"None but us three know of this mission and that's how it will stay until you return. I have one more helping but he doesn't know the details yet. Do not come back during the daytime. Sneak in back through the Uchiha compound at night. We will show you the way. Go into house of Uchiha and store your wards before coming to get me and I will come personally to inform them of what will be. You can tell them what you need to after they have changed, but only say what you must—to keep them behaving. They will be deeply compelled to follow and protect you no matter what they wish. Threaten them with a permanent transformation if need be. Neko-baa-chan will return to talk to them also, I just can't say when. She really is part cat and real cats go by their own agenda, as I'm sure you have experienced firsthand.

Sakura nodded.

"Ok, here's your mission scroll. Let's go back to my place and get this show on the road."

0o0o0

0o0o0

One of Tsunade's guest rooms had been transformed into a mystic's circle. The whole floor was marked with strange runes, waiting. There were nine collars set on nine inner circles. The air was humming with magic.

"This is a powerful spell, dear. I will need you both to release your chakra paths and let them flow while I work. If you get tired, just lay down where you stand and let sleep overtake you. It will do no harm as this will take many hours."

She turned to the pink-haired slip of a girl who was about to take on the mission of a lifetime.

"Are you ready, dear?"

Sakura nodded.

"Take your place in the center of the circles. Tsunade, you stand on the one to the right and I will take the one to the left."

"What if _you_ get tired?" Sakura asked.

The cat-like ears twitched on Neko-chan's head, "My dear, I can go days without rest. Don't worry about me. Let's begin."

The women opened their chakra paths and Neko-baa-san said a few words that were unfamiliar to Sakura. Immediately she felt her chakra begin to drain steadily from her body through the collar while the spell began its work.

No take without give, she had said. The women were going to have to give a good deal of their strength and power for this to work as desired. Three hours into it Sakura began to tire and by the fifth hour she lay down and gave herself over to the trust that Neko-chan and Tsunade would take care of her. Their power felt warm and comforting around her as she lay on the floor. She closed her eyes.

0o0o0

0o0o0

"Sakura, get up, dear."

Eight hours later Sakura opened her eyes feeling both tired and oddly refreshed. Her chakra was slowly regaining itself as the ritual had ended. The sleep had kept her from her strength getting sapped too hard.

She stood up.

"Come, child, we are finished," Neko-baa-chan assured her.

"Tsunade! I can feel you!"

"Yes, Sakura, for the next three years we are connected through the spell. Nothing too direct, I can just feel your spirit and it tells me your life status. I will be able to tell every time you capture one of your targets. If things become too dire, you can call me and I will send help."

"It makes me feel more confident." Sakura smiled softly. "Like I'm not alone in this."

"I wish I could be next to you for real." Tsunade put a hand on her apprentice's shoulder. "I feel like I'm sending you on suicide mission."

"I will make this work, Shisou. I promise."

"I know you will. I'm very proud of my best student."

"Ladies, it's time for Sakura to leave. You only have three days to be at your target. You will travel much slower once you're a cat because you will need more rest."

"Let's go to the Uchiha compound."

There were still a few minutes till dawn when they stealthily crossed Konoha. They entered the gates and Tsunade led them straight back past the old shrines to the back walls of the city. A familiar form flowed up out of the mist and Sakura recognized the blazing red of the single Sharingan holder. Kakashi greeted them quietly and reported no one was in the vicinity. He hugged Sakura and wished her luck. Stepping back he did some unfamiliar hand seals and slapped the wall.

"Sakura, I will be here for the whole week looking for you after your time is up. Come to the wall only at night and only if you sense no one else near. You'll know it's me here." His mask lifted with a smile and Sakura felt reassured.

"Go get em', girl," he ordered.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Sakura was exhausted.

She had run her ass off for two and a half days to get to Grass country in the allotted time. Every time she had felt another strong chakra signature she had gone out of way to avoid it.

Imagine fighting a battle and turning into a helpless kitty during it. Her opponent would make short work of her. Plus, she had to get close to the village where ANBU had found evidence of not just one, but three different Akatsuki sightings, and the two more recent sightings of Uchiha Itachi, her main target. No matter what, she was determined she would bring him back. Without him Sasuke might never return home.

She had spent the morning searching outside the village with no luck.

Soon her energy would run to nothing, she had to sleep.

She'd been forced to leave her weapons at home along with her hitai-ate. She wore only a black tank and form fitting shorts and showed no affiliation to Konoha. The only things in her pocket were nine collars for possible captives. A dark shadow flying through the trees, her bright shoulder length loud hair might give her away, but only if she was caught before she transformed.

She'd lived on soldier pills and water for the last two days.

Giving up for the moment, she found a quiet grove of trees outside the village and hid herself high in a tree to take a nap.

0o0o0

0o0o0

When Sakura woke she fell off of her branch. What saved her were her fingers clawing at the wood slowing her fall. No, not fingers, paws—claws stretched out and grasping. She slid to a halt as they dug in. Taking a moment to catch her breath she slowly descended to the ground.

Soldier pills gone and water canteen up the tree, she decided to investigate the village again.

'It's not like I can unscrew the cap with my paws, anyhow,' she thought.

The village looked much larger from her new vantage point. It smelled very different too. Dogs and children were to be avoided as she slipped silently around houses and headed toward the tiny food district. If Akatsuki had business in the village, it was more likely to come through this part.

She let her nose and tummy lead her to the better smelling stalls. She could smell fresh fish and the earthy smell of vegetables. The tang of spicy sauces was on the air and the sweet smell of dango dumplings.

When she neared the dango booth she saw a flash of black and red.

Growing instantly alert, she stole crossed the street and peeked over to see none other than her target enjoying an afternoon snack. She never thought about criminals liking sweets, or liking anything really. Everyone had to eat, but it was still weird.

'Now or never,' she thought, creeping across the road.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Itachi and Kisame stopped by a dango stand in the village to have some of their favorite sticky sweets and tea, before returning to their base after the latest mission. They received their order and sat at the table closest to the open air.

Itachi set his straw hat with the fabric streamers down on a chair next to him while they ate.

While savoring his green tea dango, the beautiful man with the long, dark hair and darker aura heard a bell chime. He looks down noticing a small white cat playing with the white streamers of his hat to which a small bell was attached.

He ignored the harmless feline as Kisame talked to him, until he heard a thump and a frustrated meow. The most-feared Akatsuki ninja in five nations looked over to see his hat has fallen off the chair.

As he looked at it with a slight frown on his face, the hat moved slightly once, then twice. Before it could run beyond his reach he bent over to pick it up.

A tiny, inquisitive, pale face peered out from beneath it and quietly said hello.

"meow."

"Hello, little one," the Uchiha's rich, gentle voice greeted the small, white cat with large, emerald eyes while picking up his hat. He saw she wanted to play with the fabric streamers some more and he put his hat up on the table out of her reach. The cat sat quietly purring and watched him while he finished his dango.

Kisame watched the whole bizarre interaction before he spoke.

"Even female _animals_ are drawn to you."

"It's probably because you look like a fish," Itachi shot back.

"Touché," Kisame laughed.

The owner of the stall came out nervously to their table.

"I'm sorry to bother you—but I have to ask you not to bring pets into my place of business."

"We didn't bring the cat here," Kisame told him.

"Sorry, good sirs, but this is the first time I've seen one like it here in the village—so I just assumed it was yours. It seems to have taken a liking to you, sir," he indicated the kitten who is staring adoringly at Itachi.

"It has a collar so there must be an owner." Kisame pointed to the pink ribbon collar tied in a bow that had a tiny bell in the middle around the cat's neck. There seemed to be some black script along it.

"Sir, can you please read it and I will try to find the pet's master?" The owner requested self consciously playing with the towel in his hands, "I'm afraid I can't read too well."

"Come here, little one," Itachi ordered.

The little cat walked up, unafraid, to the S-class criminal. Itachi picked up the cat, but he didn't recognize the language written on the collar. He held the cat up for Kisame who shook his head. "Never seen it," he said abruptly.

"I'm sorry it seems to be a language foreign to us," Itachi told him, as he set the cat down on the floor and she immediately jumped up into his lap and sat staring intently at him as she purred loudly.

"Thank you for trying, sirs. If you'll excuse me I have to return to work."

Itachi nodded.

"Get down, little one," Itachi commanded softly and the little cat jumped off him and sat by his feet waiting expectantly.

"The young lady's in love," Kisame observed with a chuckle.

They finished their snack, and stood to leave. Itachi walked out of the stall and the little cat followed him out of the stand and furthermore, out of the village.

"It seems to have a fascination with the hats," Itachi remarked.

"No. It seems to have a fascination with you, Uchiha."

Itachi tried to shoo it away, but the sleek, white cat followed them without fear. They took to the trees to distance themselves quickly but they both noticed the cat stalking them from the ground. For miles it raced after them, falling behind but never giving up. It followed them all the way to the door of their base.

"Now what?"

"Leave it alone, it will move on soon enough."

"Funny," Kisame observed with a snicker.

"Hn?"

"A damn cat can do what countless ninjas in countless countries have failed to do."

Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"Find an Akatsuki base." Kisame laughed out loud.

0o0o0

0o0o0

0o0o0

A/N Hopefully you can see now, that this is the beginning of a different kind of animal tale. If you don't like animal tales I suggest you read no further. But if you like it let me know. Thanks, I'm excited to start a new story and keep more than one going at the same time again. I enjoy the challenge.

K&K

Things you probably already know:

Cat-o-nine-tails—A whip, consisting of nine knotted cords fastened to a handle, used in flogging, so called because it leaves marks like the scratches of a cat. In this story it is symbolic. It symbolizes three things, Sakura's being used as a weapon, two-a weapon being used to protect the nine tailed fox, and one other thing I won't reveal yet because smart readers will figure out more than I want them to. Just know that it's symbolic and not the actual whip-weapon someone uses here. The number nine is significant in parts of this story too—again, symbolic.

Touché- a French saying meaning good hit or good one, referring to a scoring sword hit or as in this case, an especially witty remark.

Loremaster-A keeper of ancient lore and otherwise lost knowledge. A Loremaster uses his knowledge to try to keep a balance of the good and evil in the world around them. They never interfere in the matters of men-except when circumstances have gone beyond the hope of the return to balance. (Now, take that with a grain of salt please, it's kind of made up for my story with partial characteristics of a Lore master with a few of my own added in. Neko-chan wants peace between Uchiha and Tsunade's line because she is close to both and saddened by the downfall of the Uchiha's, not wishing them to fall into ruin.)

Ne-Hey.

Kampai-Cheers

Neko-baa-chan-basically Grandma Kitty

Arigato-thank you

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu-Pleased to meet you or maybe please take care of me.

Douzo-means something like-Please do, or 'you're welcome to' partake (that may be stretching it a bit, I'm not sure.) Tsunade was inviting the cats to go ahead and start eating anyhow.

Douzoyoroshiku—Very pleased to make your acquaintance.

Bell the cat—means to undertake something dangerous

Please don't favorite or alert without sending a review.

K&K


	2. Chapter 2 I'll be Watching You

I do not own Naruto

A/N-Hello, I was a little surprised to receive such a good response so early in the story, but very happy too. So many favorites and great reviews too wow. This story will definitely be one that is finished, though it may be a longish one. I do have the basic outline written out all the way to the end and it's pretty long. The first chapter was the longest because I wanted to thoroughly set the plot. Most of the following chapters will be 2000-3000 words long as is the norm for me. I feel comfortable with that number. I feel like I make more mistakes in longer chapters and take much longer re-editing them to death. I like shorter updates more often and will put them up sooner if there are reviews. Like I said before in F.K.'s I write for the reviews, not the favorites. They aren't recorded (except by me) and I can't get any feedback from them. The info, good or bad lets me know if you still find the story good, bad, interesting, lame, or cool. I think I kind of have a pretty good imagination. I also bounce ideas off my beta a lot, you would not believe some of the silly shit we come up with, and someday I'll post it (as crack). I've also gotten lots of inspiration from reviewers remarks, so thank you super very much for reviewing anything I write. I write it down to get the story out of my head, but I edit and post it quicker for the reviewers-YOU, my friends, are THE BEST. Yea you! Thanks.

On with the show.

Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter Break 2

I'll Be Watching You

0o0o0

Konoha

Hokage's Office 10 am.

0o0o0

"It's begun," Neko-chan told Tsunade, calmly taking a sip of her tea.

"Hai, I could feel it happening too," Tsunade felt the collar at her neck self consciously.

"Be strong child," Neko-chan admonished. "Have a little faith in this old woman's magic," Her ears flicked in irritation at the busty girl's fears.

"Hai, Baa-chan, if anyone can pull this off it's you and Sakura."

"You best worry how you're going to entertain those boys for the next few years and keep them all from killing each other. You know what they say. Idle hands are the devils playground. And you're about to invite the devil to live in your backyard."

Tsunade shivered, "Don't remind me," she opened her desk and removed a bottle of good sake. "I think I've had enough tea for the day, whatta ya say Neko-chan?"

"Don't just sit there doing nothing girl. Start pouring. Didn't I just tell you idle hands are the devils playground?"

0o0o0

Deep in Grass Country

Exact Location unknown

0o0o0

Uchiha Itachi and his partner Hoshigaki Kisame rose early the next morning. After a quick breakfast they prepared to go out to the far fields and spar for the better part of the day.

Kisame opened the door for them to leave and paused at the step.

"Well, hello. Look here Itachi-san, you have a visitor," Kisame laughed.

Itachi saw a shiny white ball, sunning itself on the steps to the front door of the Akatsuki hideout, one of many spread about the five nations.

"Hn," Itachi addressed the feline sitting on the step, "Still around?"

"See here, she brought you gifts," There was a small pile of dead rodents on the step. The small cat looked at Itachi expectantly and purred.

Itachi gazed at the small white cat. It was not that much bigger than the pile of pests it sat next to.

"You know, since we came back here last month the vermin have been out of control," Kisame argued.

"No."

"I think she wants to stay. She's already earning her keep, caught more damn mice in one night then that Tobi has in the two weeks. Okairi kitten," The sharp toothed man welcomed.

"Someone will just lose it and kill her. Forget it."

"Come on," The large blue nin coaxed the reluctant Uchiha. "It's been four weeks and Tobi hasn't been able to get rid of the little bastards yet, and nobody else wants to bother. Last week I found a rat had tried chewing on the bandages of my sword. Samehada killed it, but now the wrapping looks a bit shabby"

"mmmrrwww?" the strong mouser chimed into their argument.

"Hn," The dark eyed man gave in without further argument. "Little one, you won't last long here," Itachi warned.

The crafty female simply lifted her paw towards him and began to clean it with her tongue.

"Let's go," Itachi turned to go out to the training grounds.

Kisame looked at the cat for a second with his eyebrow raised, before setting out after his stoic partner.

"Ya know, I'll be damned if that kitten didn't just thumb her nose at you Itachi," Kisame pointed out, catching up to him in a few long strides.

Itachi ignored him and walked on.

The kitten followed at her own pace, taking time to investigate all manner of interesting bugs. She leaped and played with leaves long dead on the forest floor. When they got too far ahead she would simply race up to them before going back to her games.

0o0o0

0o0o0

It was getting easier to find interest in play. Sakura knew she had to be believable There had not been much time at the Hokage's place with the nin-cats, but she took full advantage of the opportunity now. Leaping after grasshoppers and jumping to snag wood moths out of the air. At one point she found a chipmunk foraging in an old log. She hunched down waiting for it to leave its safety. She imagined it to be one of her targets and she was the lion sent to capture it.

When the chipmunk finally left its safety she pounced, practically flying through the air above it. The poor thing squeaked in terror when she caught it. Feeling bad, she let it go when she felt its pulse racing under her paw on its chest. She had nothing against the little creature, she had only been playing.

Sakura followed her real target and his associate, all the way from their hideout, far out to their impromptu training grounds. They stopped in a huge field near a small copse of trees.

As they stood in the middle of the field warming up, Sakura wisely jogged over to the trees. Climbing a tall one to get a better vantage of the ninja's abilities, she settled herself on a wide branch, and prepared to see the show.

As far as she could tell they hadn't suspected a thing, yet. It was thrilling the amount of information she was getting just by watching them train and interact. Kage's would pay fortunes for this type of intelligence. The ninja had left their telltale cloaks back at the cottage and both wore similar black nin pants. Itachi wore a form fitting, long sleeved, dark grey pullover with buttons at the neck left undone. His long hair tied back low on his neck. The shark-nin wore a long sleeved shirt made of black net. Intimidating or not they were clearly in top form for ninja. Being a doctor, Sakura could appreciate the thousands of hours it took to have such clear definition and muscle tone. They were truly pleasing to the eye.

Kisame finished his warm up and attacked without warning. He came in with an overhead slice that would have busted a head wide open but Itachi simply slid to the left, twisted around fully and threw a pair of kunai at the rapidly passing opponent that were knocked aside by the sword without breaking stride.

Kisame came at Itachi with slices, lunges and full power swings, but the Uchiha gracefully dodged the heavy swings of the shark-nin. Their speed only increased with time, and it was only a matter of time, she thought, before Kisame landed one stroke on the ex-leaf-nin. She believed when that hit came, it would signal the end of the fight. The sword was rumored to suck chakra without even touching; surely the Uchiha had to be feeling the effects by now.

There it came! The first hit of the samehada. The legendary leaf-nin neither faded nor faltered. Jumping back, he swiftly did the hand signs for the kanton jutsu his clan was well known for. Sakura could feel the heat off the giant fireball even from where she sat, a few hundred yards off, as the breeze blew her way. The crackle of the flames was momentarily deafening. The intensity was amazing and Itachi's chakra was giving off a powerful aura, as was the mist nin's.

The demon shark wasted no time in releasing his own set of jutsu, jamming samehada into the ground. His hand seals were a blur to her sharp cat's eyes. He called forth a water clone and with a roar, a wave of exploding water rose, into which his clone promptly disappeared.

Itachi now stood atop the water to fight, swiftly avoiding a water prison before sending another fireball at the water style nin. Steam had begun to rise from the immense mesh of fire and water. Black smoke made Sakura's eyes itch. The shark nin, standing atop the water, exploded into nothing as the real one came up behind Itachi, slicing him with the sword.

Sakura looked up quickly, expecting Itachi to go down, but his clone also exploded into a log and he transported his body to come up behind Kisame, kicking him hard enough to make him roll across the manmade lake. Only coming to a stop when he slammed into a small outcropping of rock there. The impact made the tree she was in tremble and she clung with her claws to keep from slipping.

The back and forth fight was fascinating, with neither one getting the upper hand for more than seconds at a time. Sakura had yet to see a clear wound from either man.

It was mesmerizing in its monotony.

Unfortunately, it was hard to keep her eyes open for long, seeing as she had been up all night catching mice to prove she might be of value to them. After some time their back and forth motions began to lull her towards sleep.

Last night had been busy. Not only had she caught and killed almost a dozen rodents, she had caught almost two dozen more and sent the terrified creatures through cracks and crevices into the criminals' hideout. Hopeful that at least some of them made it in alive. She was new at the mousing game, and may have squished a few beyond recovery. If they didn't let her in today, she would have them begging her to come inside by the end of the week.

Actually, it was quite surprising at first. There was such a large population of the vermin near the residence. Surprising, that is, until she had found the scarcely used storage cellar outside the back, where some idiot had stored grain and other dry products without properly sealing the cellar to keep vermin out. It was like a nasty parasite heaven down there, and the overspill of pests must have crept into the house for better digs.

These were the genius of Akatsuki, the so called new 'dawn.'

Even if you have the most power in the world, your situation will deteriorate and corrupt itself if you don't tend to the details. Kakashi, of all people, was right. To look underneath the underneath was a wise thing to do.

'Kami-sama help us all.'

Idiots are trying to rule the world.

They kept dry goods, that none of them probably even bothered to ever cook with. They stored them poorly and when it became a problem, had they fixed it? No. Most likely, they would eventually just move on, rather than taking the problem in hand. It was no wonder they had an infestation now.

All the better for her plans. She knew how to take care of details. Be it in a lab breaking down the components of a poison, an operating table with her hands in someone's chest piecing them back together, or a house full of vermin, men or mice. She knew how to deal with details.

'Bring it on,' She thought.

Denka-kun told me to find a way to make you love me, and now I have.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Sakura had probably watched the two nin battle for most of two hours. The warmth of the sun, and the gentle breeze stirring the tree ruffled her fur much like the caress she had received from Neko-chan. Eventually, though, her eyes closed of their own volition. The silence when they finished woke her, it was already late into the afternoon.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Itachi had ignored Kisame until they reached the training grounds. The kitten followed them all the way playing foolishly with all manner of nature. When their travel ceased, she found a tree some distance away, climbed high into it and sat, watching them spar. They worked until late into the afternoon, coming back tired and bloody from having worked hard to survive.

The kitten came down its tree and followed them out of the damage grounds, before jumping up onto the tip of Samehada, Kisame's renowned sword.

"You know, kitten," Kisame warned, "Sammy doesn't much care for others to touch him, besides myself."

The kitten simply meowed and stretched herself out, digging her claws in and out playfully on the bandaged edges of the sword.

"Little minx, thumbing your nose at me now, are you?" His deep laugh vibrated through the sword. "Don't be surprised when Samehada gives you a poke for your troubles," He watched the kitten with a respectful smirk as she curled back up and lay her head on her shoulder to nap on the walk home.

"Seems she adopted you now," Itachi said

"Well, if she can get rid of the pests, she's welcome to stay in my room."

They arrived back to the base and strolled into chaos.

Deidara was chasing Tobi around, cursing about some ridiculous thing he did. Kisame and Itachi strode into the kitchen ignoring their antics. Kisame set samehada against the wall and the kitten jumped down onto his shoulder then down to the floor.

0o0o0

"You shithead, Tobi, un! Those mice got into my clay and ate it. Then they blew up all over my room! Thanks to you, there's guts and blood everywhere and it smells! I'm gonna kill you! Come eat some clay, yeah."

0o0o0

Itachi started some tea while Kisame looked in the icebox for something to eat. He pulled out a plate of grilled chicken and some leftover onigiri from the day before. Itachi set the teapot on the table and sat filling cups as Kisame put a couple plates out for them. The kitten sat under Itachi's chair, watching with wide green eyes, as the two crazy ninja in the next room made a lot of noise. She rubbed against Itachi's leg gently when he sat down. The perfect little lady sat on her haunches looking up at him. She meowed and when he looked down she put one snow paw on his leg and tilted her head at him.

"She's hungry," the mist nin told him.

"She could eat the mice," Itachi reminded him

"Selfish," Kisame muttered, putting a little chicken on a small plate, "Here you go kitten." He set the plate on the floor next to the cat and she meowed once before tearing into the food with gusto, almost like she hadn't had a decent meal in days. "Maybe she doesn't like the taste of rodent. I know I wouldn't."

"If you spoil her, she'll never leave."

"Are you so anxious to get rid of her?"

"Hn," Itachi turned back to his tea.

They finished their meal and left the kitchen after cleaning up, each going to their own rooms.

As Itachi walked into his room there was a loud crash behind him and he turned to see the two idiots were still fighting. He didn't notice the flash of white disappearing under his bed before he closed the door.

He showered and when he came back into his room. There she sat, in the middle of his room, quietly cleaning her paws next to the large rat that lay twitching in its death throes on the floor next to her.

0o0o0

Sakura had found something very satisfying about grabbing the furry prey around the neck with her strong, sharp teeth, and quickly snapping their necks.

"Are you gonna eat that?" Itachi asked her. She looked at him and he saw scorn in her expressive eyes, before she jumped onto his bed and lay on his pillow watching him through half lidded verdant orbs.

Ignoring the strange little cat, he removed his robe to dress, not noticing when she quickly turned her head to avert her feline eyes. He did notice however that the motor he had been hearing all afternoon was suddenly silent. The cat was lying still as stone on his pillow.

"Sukoshi?" He walked over and touched her back, the kitten jumped like he had stuck her with a pin.

Was she deaf?

Had she not heard him come over to her?

No, that couldn't be, he had spoken to her yesterday and she had responded immediately. Then again, perhaps a hearing problem was why she had gotten lost and followed him home. Maybe he simply reminded her of her previous master and she refused to lose sight of him.

No matter, she would move on soon enough, if left alone. He lay on his bed and the cat jumped down near the foot of the bed, curling up for the night.

"Tomorrow you find a new bed," He told the ball of fur warming his feet.

She purred loudly at him.

He almost smiled at the bold female, he hadn't shared his bed in years.

He closed his eyes and drifted off.

0o0o0

When Itachi woke the next morning he lay on his side. He discovered he had a new growth of soft white fur curled under his chin and a motor vibrating against his throat. A long supple tail was sweeping lazily against his cheek.

"Ohayo, little one," He greeted her and she poked her head up and rose, rubbing her cheek on his chin.

"Meow."

"You are an odd girl, don't you know I'm a bad guy?" he smirked.

"Meow," she returned softly and placed her paw on his cheek. Then she jumped down off of his bed and walked to the door, looking back at him expectantly.

"Breakfast?" He asked her.

"Mmrrw."

0o0o0

0o0o0

A/N -Troublesome. Man those fight scenes are a bitch for me to write, I really try hard with them. I hope they made sense and were good enough.

Things you probably already know:

Hai-yes

Thumb your nose- This expression refers to the traditional gesture of contempt, that is, placing the thumb under the nose and wiggling the fingers. Here it is akin to-To dismiss someone's words as insignificant.

Okairi kitten-Welcome home kitten.

Ohayo-Morning (Ohayo Goziamusu = Good morning)

Icebox-old fashioned term for a refrigerator.

Sukoshi- meaning-Little one (can also be little bit). It is pronounced sko-sh or sko-shi. This is Itachi's nickname for the cat, and yes, I have him saying it sometimes in Japanese and sometimes in English because I feel like doing it. I haven't decided which I like best yet and I didn't want it to hold up my update so, there it is. If you like one or the other or both you can tell me. BTW, Sakura is not a kitten even though Kisame has nicknamed her that. She is the equivalent of an older teenager for a cat. Not yet fully grown so her petite cat body reflects this, especially as she is a more petite woman. I cannot think of something to give her size correctly, perhaps, curled up she would be about the size of a football, about 10 lbs? She has no given name the Akatsuki know of, -on her collar, so they are just calling her as they like. She will not be considered as a pet to them, at least for now.

Please review.

K&K


	3. Chapter 3 Sleeping with the Enemy

I do not own Naruto.

0o0o0

Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter break 3

0o0o0

Sleeping With The Enemy

0o0o0

0o0o0

Sakura's mind was racing.

It didn't work.

'Oh shit!' Sakura thoughts reeled wildly.

No! The spell didn't work. She'd looked him in the eye, and it didn't work.

No! The damned collar didn't work.

No! What if none of it worked?

No! What if I'm stuck like this forever?

'Calm down.' Her inner voice broke into Sakura's frenzied thoughts. 'He'll get suspicious.'

'Think,' her inner self ordered. 'You looked in his eyes and thought of only him to begin the spell to capture him, right?'

'I looked into his eyes…and thought…about Sasuke. God! He looks so much like Sasuke!' Sakura wailed inside her head.

'Baka! Baka, baka, baka! What if you don't get another chance! Get your head out of your ass!' Sakura reamed herself, 'You're on a mission! Have you forgotten?'

'It won't happen again,' she promised herself.

'Pray you get a second chance,' the voice in her head chided.

Sakura followed Itachi into the kitchen. There were already three ninja noisily having breakfast at the long oak table.

0o0o0

"Oi, what the hell is that? A fucking giant, white rat?" Hidan, the silver-maned ninja with the amethyst-colored eyes spoke. The little cat flattened her ears at the loudness and ran to watch him from behind Itachi's leg.

"Oh, no, Hidan-san. It's a kitty. Hello, kitty-chan. Where did you come from?" the orange-masked man said.

"She followed Itachi here two days ago," Kisame announced coming into the room behind Itachi, "She's come to replace you, Tobi."

"In Akatsuki?" Hidan and Tobi replied in unison.

"Hnn, Good," quipped the, up till now silent, blond-haired, blue-eyed, young man at the table's end.

"No, you idiots," Kisame said, "to control the vermin."

"I vote we replace Tobi with her completely," Deidara added.

"Senpai! That's not fair!"

"Your right," Deidara agreed. "Cat's probably too smart, yeah."

"SENPAI!" Tobi yelled louder as general chaos ensued.

"I vote we use it for target practice," Hidan spoke up.

'I warned you,' Itachi's eyes told Kisame.

Once again the cat, feeling malice from the purple eyed ninja, put her ears back before disappearing under the table.

"Hidan-san, you shouldn't hurt the kitty. What did it do to you?"

"It looked at me funny."

"That's no reason to kill it."

"The cat stays until the pests are gone," Kisame told Hidan. "And if that includes you, so be it."

Another ninja wearing a mask over his face entered the room and stood back, watching the others argue.

"Bring it on, fish-face."

"I wonder what it will be like to live the rest of your eternal life as a talking head on the end of a stick," Kisame threatened.

"Like you could beat me, tuna-head!"

A solid thunk and rattle of a plate stopped both nin's arguing.

Hidan looked down the see the dying rat, scrabbling for purchase on his plate, as its eyes slowly clouded over.

"What the fuck!" He jumped back from the table and the cat standing on it, watching him with cold, calculating eyes.

"That's fucking gross!"

Hidan looked up at his partner.

"The cat stays," Kakuzu declared. He too had seen the pile of dead mice on the front step. Now he knew where from they came.

And that was that. There would be no more discussion.

"Little one, get off the table."

"Mmmrew," she answered, jumping down, leaving behind Hindan's 'breakfast.'

"Senpai, can I name her?"

"No," Deidara said

"Why not, Senpai?"

"Because whatever you name it will be stupid. Besides, it's Itachi's cat _not_ yours, hn."

Tobi looked over to where Itachi stood, making his daily tea and toast. Indeed the little cat was right there, sitting patiently, waiting for him.

"Itachi-san, what's the kitty's name?"

"There is no name, it simply followed us here. When it gets bored, it will move on. Until then if it can be useful it is allowed to stay."

"Yeah?" Hidan retorted. "What happens when we leave on missions? Who's supposed to take care of it?"

"Just leave a window open. It will come and go as it pleases," Kisame told him, "Cats are solitary creatures and they can care for themselves."

"Speaking of missions, Hidan, we are late to leave for our own. Deidara, I believe you and Tobi have an assignment, also. Itachi, Pein-sama requires your report."

'Who was Pein?' Sakura thought. She had thought at first this masked nin giving orders was the leader, but then wouldn't it be him Itachi was reporting to? And where exactly was this Pein?

None of her questions were answered as the kitchen cleared with everyone going their own way except Kisame and Itachi.

"That little bastard left his plate on the table," Kisame grumbled. Taking the plate he tossed the dead rat off it into the grate of the wood burning stove, Kisame called the cat.

"Here, Kitten, you can finish off that bastard's breakfast if you like rice omelets."

He put the plate on the floor and Sakura gladly ate it, purring madly. Aside from the bit of chicken yesterday and one bitter-tasting, rather…crunchy grasshopper, it had been days since her last decent meal and she definitely wanted to avoid eating mice and rats at all cost. She'd eat another dozen grasshoppers before munching on those disgusting vermin. They might be fun to kill, but they were filthy little things and some of them had fleas—yuck.

"Do you think leader wants us to go on another mission so quickly?"

"Aa. It's getting close to the time to finish taking the rest of the Jinchuriki and wars cost lots money."

"We still have a couple years before the end, don't we?"

Sakura wolfed down her food while the two ninja talked. She had almost finished her meal when a hand grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.

She freaked. Yowling and spitting she twisted and turned, scrambling to find purchase with her back legs or front paws.

"Settle down," a dark voice ordered her with a small shake. He was slipping a string around her neck. She continued to struggle until she noticed Itachi sitting quietly watching her from his chair. He wasn't saying a word, merely observing. She stopped trying to fight back and the hand holding her neck relaxed too.

"There." Tying a knot in the string around her neck was the masked ninja from earlier. "You won't get in or out of this place without that on unless one of us is with you."

Sakura's heart was beating out of her chest. That bastard had totally snuck up on her. She looked down and tried to see what the jerk had strung on her, but it was too close under her chin. She pushed it with her paw a few times to no avail. Whatever it was, she hoped it didn't interfere with the working of her collar. Finally she left it alone, looking back for her unfinished breakfast, but the nin had taken the plate away before he left.

'Well anything was better than eating rat,' she thought. She looked to the blue man who had fed her yesterday, but he too was done eating.

He stood up.

"Come here, Kitten," he led her back down the long hall. "I'll leave my window open for you and the one back in the kitchen." He told her. "I want you to go hunting in here first." he indicated his room, leaving the door open.

"Do you think it understands you?" Itachi smirked behind him.

"Mhrrow," She poked her head into the shark-nin's closet, investigating it for signs of life.

"See? She knows what to do. Go open up the kitchen window and we'll head out to contact Pein. If we have another mission, we might as well get it over with."

0o0o0

Everyone had left and Sakura had the place to herself. She hunted for an hour or so, killing four mice before she gave up and sat in the sunny windowsill of the kitchen, enjoying the soft breeze brushing against her fur.

It wouldn't be good to kill all the rodents at one time, she reasoned. She still had to be here for most of a month. She would wear out her welcome if she caught them all the first week, it would look suspicious too and no normal cat would do all that. On the other hand, if she didn't kill _enough_ they would probably lose patience too. Of course, she could always get more from the cellar out back.

One thing was for sure—she wouldn't hunt for that Hidan creep.

Suggesting they use her for _target practice_. She sniffed, tipping her little, pink nose in the air.

She had found a mirror earlier, when she was hunting Kisame's bathroom, and seen the charm the masked nin had tied around her neck. 'Dawn,' the kanji that represented it lay just below her collar. It must be that there was a ward around the base, preventing just anyone from entering. It hung just below her collar.

Probably, it was a good thing she had waited to be invited before coming inside, or she would have died quietly in Grass country, her mission a failure before it was begun.

She went back into the open rooms to investigate and look for any evidence of Akatsuki actions.

Unsurprisingly, Kisame's room had been devoid of personality. Like the rest of the place, it was utilitarian, plain grey walls with a few maps of the five nations, a small bathroom opposite the doorway.

The rooms she had been in were much like the small, cheap hotels Team Seven had shared on missions. This one had an extra large bed with a dark blue spread, not surprising considering the size of the huge Mist nin. The room had hardly any personal effects in it that screamed ninja. A few sets of kunai, clothes in the one drawer she could peer into that had been left open a few inches. She found one set of six scrolls, but the jutsu inside had been for nin with water-based chakra.

Digging around under the bed she found one source of the mice problem in the room. A family of mice had moved in and had many, many babies. The room's occupant had made it easy for the mice to come in and out, by leaving junk under the bed for them to climb up. She pulled the bulky nest out of the hole in the bottom end of the mattress, and methodically murdered a dozen babies by stepping on them until they no longer breathed, that was after killing the larger ones. She felt a little bad, even though she would do the same in her own house. How could he not have noticed they were living right under his feet? She went back under and pushed trash out far enough, so no mouse would get back up there, leaving it so Kisame would see and hopefully pick it up upon his return.

Honestly, she had thought it was mostly just Naruto who treated his floor as a garbage bin, but maybe it was a male thing. Itachi's room had been spotless. Nothing but a few dust balls and one large rat roaming under his bed and the rat had probably been hiding from her or the noisy ninja in the living room.

Deciding she had enough for the day, she shook off the dust bunnies and jumped on the large bed to take a nap. All in all, it had been a rather unexciting day, but she had to be thorough checking every room she could for intel to use against Akatsuki. If they were gone this often she would have time to check out every room in the house in her month there. If she failed to catch them all perhaps she could find another way for Konoha to defeat them.

She cleaned herself as best she could. The tongue bath was one of her least favorite activities because of the hair, but if she didn't do it she would be filthy in no time, from crawling into tight spaces. She knew most cats did not favor water, so she would avoid the tub. When finished she laid her head on the blanket and closed her eyes, sighing. Cats really did do things in their own time. Her new body clock was taking some time to get used to. It was too bad her time was limited here. She would have to capture the enemy as quickly as she could, especially as she did not know if they were going to be here in another week.

0o0o0

A scuff of a sandal had her cracking one green eye open by late afternoon. The Mist nin looked into his room with a grin on his face.

"What do we have here? Taking a well deserved break?" he looked around the floor to see her handiwork and tapping the pile of carcasses on the floor with one foot.

"Otsukaresama deshita, Kitten," He came over and stroked her head. She purred loudly for him and rubbed her head into his hand.

"Hey, are you hungry?"

"Mreow."

"Come on, let's make some dinner," Kisame turned to leave and Sakura jumped onto his shoulder, wrapping her tail around his neck.

Kisame's laugh vibrated through her toes. "Those mice give you any problem, Kitten?"

"Mmrew."

"You're a funny, little one. Do you know you talk more than my partner?" Kisame opened the fridge and started pulling out sliced meats and sandwich stuffs.

"Mmrrow." Sakura licked her chops watching him pull out the delicious smelling food.

"Itachi won't be joining us tonight. He had to go find out what mischief his little brother was up to."

She sat straight up on his shoulder. "Mreow?" Sakura was suddenly very glad she couldn't speak human. The look on Kisame's face was one of wonder.

'Idiot! Her inner admonished. Stop reacting to his name!'

"You sound like your actually interested, Kitten. You really got a thing for Itachi don't you?"

She jumped to over to the window sill to avoid his look. He began to put together sandwiches, enough for three people, but she knew such a big guy must surely eat a lot. Hell, Naruto ate that much and he was half the size of Kisame.

Kami-sama, she was starting to drool.

"Meow!" she increased her vocalization.

"Don't worry." He got out a small plate and put three good sized slices of ham and a piece of white cheese on it. "Come on girl." He took both plates, set them on the table, and sat down. Sakura jumped to the chair next to him and he put her plate on the chair.

Purring loudly she tore into the food. It was soo good. Either her sense of taste and smell had improved greatly as a cat, or she was just starving.

She finished the meal with relish and jumped down to rub against the kind, bad-guy's ankles to thank him. Seeing he would be a while she jumped to the window and went outside to get a little fresh air.

0o0o0

She came back a short time later and the house was nearly silent again. The source of the only noise she had heard came from the living room. When she investigated she found the shark-nin stretched out on the long couch, snoring ear-splittingly loud.

It was the perfect opportunity, especially seeing as he had left his ever-present sword in his room. The sword was some kind of sentient being with a will of its own, and might warn him of her trying to use the spell on him.

Sakura snuck up onto the couch silently on her pads and walked carefully onto his chest. Resting at eye level with him she took a deep breath, put her paw on his chin, and spoke his name in her head three times, just to make sure. She had screwed up with Itachi, she had him alone but had thought of only Sasuke, and therefore, the spell never took effect.

"Oh, hello, Kitten, just catching forty winks." He yawned and looked at her funny. "What happened to your collar? It's almost as if I can read it…"

'Kisame, Kisame, Kisame,' She chanted in her head again, taking no chances this time.

"Your soul is tied to my heart," he read off the collar's words of contract. Sakura and Kisame both heard the distinct tone of the collars bell as it rang. "What was that?" the large man murmured.

Sakura tensed, ready to run.

Kisame's eyes seemed to cloud over. He blinked and slowly shook his head.

"Oh, hello, Kitten, just catching forty winks," He raised an eyebrow at her, "You up for a nap?"

"Mmreow," she sighed happily. It had worked. Plus, he had already forgotten the whole incident. Purring, she curled into a ball on his chest. He closed his eyes, going back to sleep.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Tsunade jumped up from her chair where she sat listening to an exceedingly boring report made by team ten's captain, Asuma, as he droned on in his monotone voice.

"YYYeessss!" she yelled slamming her fist down atop her desk, making it quake. "Got one!"

Asuma was so surprised the unlit cigarette fell from between his lips. Shikamaru opened his eyes from his prone position against the wall. Ino stopped putting her makeup on, and Choji stopped stuffing chips in his face. Crumbs tumbled out of his open mouth and fell to the floor, forgotten.

"…uh, Hokage-sama?"

"Shizune!" her voice boomed. "Get in here!"

The door flew opened and a harried looking apprentice burst in. "Yes! What's wrong?"

"Nothing, this is something good! Get Kakashi in my office right now! Tell him he has ten minutes to be here, or I'm sending AMBU to burn one of his dirty, porn novels for every minute he's late!"

"Yes Hokage-sama!" Shizune turned to follow her orders.

"Send ANBU to find him. Hurry," she added.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." her assistant ran from the office.

Team Ten sat in stunned silence while Tsunade paced back and forth speaking odd words of praise, about what or who, they couldn't tell. Five minutes later Kakashi appeared at the window, looking like he'd just run the fastest mile of his life.

"Did I make it in time?" he panted heavily.

"Yes, with time to spare. Now get in here. We've got planning to do. You won't believe it. Wait till I tell you…"

She looked over her shoulder where Team Ten sat, still in its same places as when this all began, looking completely engrossed in what she was about to say.

Tsunade's face darkened, "What the hell are you still here for?"

"…ah," Asuma scratched the back of his head, "our report?"

"Yes, yes. Good job. Tell the rest to Shizune on your way _out_. Now _shoo_!"

'They moved rather fast when they were inspired, that Team Ten,' Kakashi thought.

In a matter of seconds the door was closed and Tsunade was pulling out a bottle of sake.

"Get comfortable, Kakashi. This will take a while to explain."

"Explain what?"

"How our wonderful student, who helped kill an S-class nin, has just captured her first of many Akatsuki," Tsunade crowed pouring out two cups of her finest sake.

She laughed like a school girl and Kakashi reached for his drink.

He had a feeling he was going to need it.

0o0o0

0o0o0

0o0o0

Things you probably already know:

Baka-Idiot, stupid, dummy. Attention! I am not calling _you_ that. It's the definition, lol ; -)

Kanji-a Japanese system of writing based on borrowed or modified Chinese characters. The kanji for dawn was painted on the charm on the string around Sakura's neck.

Otsukaresama deshita- Good job, or good work (today).

Prone-Now don't write me to tell me prone means flat, I know that, but it also means-_without any interest or excitement_-took that straight from Encarta and it describes Shikamaru to a T here. Besides Shikamaru would treat a wall the same as a bed or ground and sleep on it, ne?

Well what do you think?

Please review.

K&K

0o0o0

p.s.

You don't wanna know where Kakuzu got that string from. XP


	4. Chapter 4 Show Me The Money

I do not own Naruto.

A/N-Just so you know, I don't very often reply to reviews even though I like to read them so much. They are awesome, but whenever I have time to sit and type I thought it might make readers happier to see more story/stories then just review replies. But please review, it really is what keeps me going with FF, they inspire me. I do take time to go to everyone's homepage who reviews to see what kinds of stories they write or like and read their page. I hope that isn't too weird, I find them pretty cool. And I like to check out their fics too when time permits and it is the type I read. I always leave a review(s) when I read someone's story. Fanfiction is awesome, on with the story.

I have lots more tales to spin.

Meow.

Pun intended.

R&R Please.

K&K

Cat-O-Nine Tails

0o0o0

Chapter break 4-Show Me the Money.

0o0o0

Konoha: 1:00 a.m.-The next day.

"Have you gone mad?" Kakashi had sat and listened to the details of an unbelievably risky plan, before asking Tsunade to explain it to him twice more. He had drunk two bottles of sake, but he felt stone cold sober. Now he had come to a rather disturbing conclusion.

"What did you just ask me?" the golden, honey-eyed blonde cracked her knuckles and looked the copy-nin up and down as if deciding whether or not to take him apart.

Kakashi put his hands up a bit nervously in hopes of slowing down her rage.

"Well, first you let the remainder of Team Seven run off, on an_ Akatsuki _member's advice no less, to face Orochimaru after a grueling mission. Without yours truly, I might add. Then you ship Sakura off to capture the Akatsuki criminals _by herself_. The whole plan sounds a bit mad. Does Jariyah know you're doing this?"

"Listen here, Kakashi, _you little brat_, this isn't the twelve year old girl you had to protect all the time, this girl has power _and_ guts. You yourself left her with an unknown _Akatsuki _shinobi, to fight—Sasori of the red sands."

Kakashi winced when he thought about that _almost_ disaster. Sakura had informed him that the battle had come down to the wire. Another few seconds and she would have gone the same way as Chiyo-baa-chan.

"We are fighting to stay out of _wars_ here, Kakashi! I had to send the best, and Sakura is the best. Plus, she has a personal stake in this. She would never have forgiven me if I had not included her. She is helping to save Naruto along with the whole fire nation."

"So this isn't about saving a _prized_ bloodline?"

"It goes deeper than that this time," She pulled him close and looked him in the eye meaningfully. "Word on this subject will not leave this room," she spoke quietly.

He nodded.

"I have some evidence that points to the whole massacre being an order sent down from the top."

"The Third Hokage?" the silver-haired nin disagreed, "It can't be."

"Not only him, but the council of elders too. The problem is this. That kill order was supposed to be used as a last ditch effort, only after talks between the Third and Uchihas broke down. Something went wrong, and the order was given before talks were given a chance to start. The whole thing could have very well been avoided, if it wasn't for one faction."

"Who?"

"Root," she whispered.

"Danzo?"

She nodded, "My hard evidence at this point is laughable, yes, but the source is reliable, and the story makes a lot more sense than some child going evil and murdering his whole clan." Her fist came down softly on her desk. "He may have been a genius, who was more than loyal to his village, but he was also still a child in some ways, and children can be manipulated. He was thirteen years old. I'm not going to make him out to be an angel, but I have to know how many devils I'm dealing with…and if some of them are still here in Konoha pulling strings."

Kakashi looked doubtful. It was written all over his masked face. Tsunade didn't blame him but…

"How many mistakes did you make when you were thirteen, Kakashi?" She laughed bitterly, "Myself, I made loads of them."

Kakashi's heart ached at the mistakes he had made with Rin and Obito, even Minato, at that same age. A child prodigy himself, he had also thought his own father a traitor and a failure back then. He had been _so_ wrong, and it had taken an Uchiha to prove it. Maybe it was time to repay the favor, maybe he could keep an open mind. He sighed and poured himself another cup.

"Being smart doesn't always make you wise," He mused.

"That's why it's up to the elders and leaders to _guide_ our children. I will find the truth Kakashi," Tsunade said stubbornly. She took the bottle from him and drank straight from the neck.

"No offense, but it sounds like you are grasping at straws, Hokage-sama."

"Kakashi, let me ask you something..."

He nodded.

"How many times, since the massacre, has the criminal Uchiha Itachi come into contact with Konoha ninja?"

Kakashi took his time answering, he remembered all the reports of contact, some with himself.

"Probably at least a dozen."

"And how many times has he come into contact with his target, Naruto, when the boy was still not very strong.?"

"At least twice."

"And how many of these people has he killed or taken hostage."

"uh…none?"

"Of course, he injured you pretty badly that one time, but you were a pretty big threat to him if he left you alone, right?"

"Yes."

"Could he have killed you at least once by now? Be honest."

"Probably. Look, I see your point. Itachi has not gone out of his way to kill us, but what good is sending Sakura into the lion's den? Do you not feel Akatsuki is that dangerous?"

"Oh no. They are dangerous. The most dangerous threat in a generations. Not since the fox demon's attempt to destroy Konoha, has there been such a powerful threat. Even without the Jinchuriki, I feel these Akatsuki are strong enough to take down nations. The power they seek through the Jinchuriki will, more likely than not, be what will hold those nations under their thumb permanently."

"And Sakura? What about her role in all this?"

"This time the edge is in our favor, Kakashi. The Uchiha Loremaster has decided to meddle in the affairs of men. Something she hasn't done since Kami-sama knows how long. This time our ally is _just _as powerful as our enemy. It a small chance, yes, but with great risk comes great reward. We can't sit around and hope for things to improve if we aren't willing to risk ourselves."

She pointed a painted-red fingernail in his face.

"Just because Neko-chan's method seems too soft, doesn't mean it is wrong. We never even got a toe in the front door of an Akatsuki base using power or force, and Sakura has already proven she can accomplish her mission. This time, they won't know what hit them. Our little Sakura is going to cut them off at the knees. At the same time she will bring the Uchiha back into Konoha, and we will find out the real meaning of the massacre and hopefully, the killing will stop. Sakura has a chance to save the world here."

"You could have sent me," he offered a bit belatedly.

"This is _not_ a suicide mission. You are _not_ a cat person and those eyes would have given you away. I've never even seen a cat with the sharingan. I've trained Sakura myself. I have confidence in her and so should you. Frankly, she's the only one, besides myself, I can trust with this mission. I can't just disappear for a whole month, even Akatsuki has ears in Konoha I'm sure."

"You got some big plans pinned on a little cat that you sent to those lions."

Tsunade laughed sadistically.

"Kakashi, have you ever heard the tale of where cats come from?"

He shook his head.

"Out of desperate need—they say the cat was created when the lion sneezed."

0o0o0

0o0o0

Grass, outside Akatsuki base: 1:25am.

0o0o0

"Aaachoo!"

"Don't tell me you're sick?" Kakuzu asked. "I thought the undead never got sick."

"Fuck you, whipstitch, someone was just talking about me, that's all."

"Yeah, you've got plenty of fans," The ex-Takigakure nin scoffed.

"Bastard! They were probably crying about being afraid of my fucking awesomeness," Hidan gloated, "No one can escape my jutsu!"

The zombie twins walked up the steps to their front door.

0o0o0

"Well, isn't that _cute_!" A malevolent voice sneered.

Sakura lifted an eyelid. It was dark—either very late at night or very early in the morning. She sat up as Kisame raised his head to see who had interrupted his sleep.

"What do you want, you stupid, janken freak?" The ex-mist ninja stretched on the couch as he was rudely awakened.

"It's JASHIN you fucking, fish-gilled prick! He will _smite _you for that!"

"We already had one of your people stop by today handing out pamphlets. We're not interested," Kisame snickered.

Hidan lifted his scythe threateningly and was stopped when Kakuzu smacked him on the back of the head.

"Save it for _real_ work. If you get hurt dicking around here, I'm _not_ sewing you back together."

"Kakuzu!" Hidan whined, "I'm wanna kill this asshole."

"You'll probably lose, and I don't feel like saving your ass. Plus you'll bleed all over the damned floor."

"You're so mean to me," Hidan pouted.

"Does that cat do anything but sleep?" Kakuzu asked.

Sakura jumped up to the back of the couch so Kisame could sit up.

"Yeah, she caught a ton of mice in my room today, er, yesterday. I'd say she's pulling her weight," Under his breath he added, "Better than _some_ people anyways."

"I'm gonna kill that fucking cat," Hidan ranted, "Better yet, I'll sacrifice it to Jashin."

Sakura flattened her ears and hissed at the violet-eyed bastard who did nothing but threaten her. He reached for her and she swiped at him with her claws.

'Where is a good kunai when I need it?' she thought.

"You can kill the cat Hidan," Kakuzu told him.

He whooped happily until Kakuzu interrupted him.

"But know this, if you do kill it or maim it, you will be in charge of catching all the pests around here till we move on."

"Awww, come _on,_ Kakuzu! You wouldn't do that to me? I was joking, I'll leave the white rat alone," Hidan bellyached as he followed his partner down the hall.

Kisame stood and stretched. "Come on, Kitten. You better sleep with me or Itachi when that bastard's around." Sakura chased after him, jumping on the end of his bed to sleep a bit more before morning came.

0o0o0

Dawn broke—still with no Itachi. Sakura shared some fish with Kisame, thinking how ironic it was that he could eat something that closely resembled himself. The masked nin then called her to him and picked her up, saying he wanted her to check his room for vermin.

Sakura let him carry her to his room. He didn't seem interested in harming her since he had been the one to declare she could stay. He had even threatened Hidan for her. There was definitely something creepy about that mask though. It didn't remind her of Kakashi's at all. But then, Kakashi was always smiling behind his.

Kakuzu worked quietly at his desk while Sakura stalked the room, occasionally sniffing or listening intently for her prey.

This ninja was more organized than Kisame and there were no mice in his bed. His closet had a small nest in it, which she pulled out and disposed the occupants. But she was having a bit of a problem figuring out where else the mice were hiding.

0o0o0

Kakuzu opened his bottom desk drawer looking for something. Not finding it, he stood and left the room.

Sakura heard the small scratch inside the large drawer.

'That was it! They were either in or under the desk!' she thought excitedly.

She couldn't get under it though, it was set too close to the ground. She jumped into the open drawer when she saw a tail slip from view.

To her surprise it was full of money.

That meant nothing to her at the moment. Her quarry was in the drawer and she was going to get it. She dove at the stack of yen she had seen the tail disappear behind and it flew into the air. The mouse slipped away, and she spun around the drawer slipping on the bills trying to catch the little shit.

Finally, just as it was going to squeeze through a hole in the drawers back corner, she got a hold of its tail.

"What the hell are you doing?" A surprised and angry sounding voice asked.

The green-eyed masked man was back, and none too happy. The damn cat had just made a frickin huge mess of his money drawer. And if there was one thing you didn't mess with, it was Kakuzu's cash.

He grabbed the cat by the scruff of the neck. Luckily for her, when he dragged her up, she had the mouse by the tail in her mouth. She dropped the rodent and yowled, protesting his rough treatment. He stomped on the mouse and set the little cat down at his feet. She immediately went back into the drawer and started digging.

"Hey! Don't do that," He said.

"Mrrrrr," she looked at him and pawed at the drawer bottom once more.

"What? Is there more? He pulled the drawer out further and she jumped out of it, turning expectantly to look at him. He removed the drawer from its track and looked inside under the desk.

There lay a nest that beat out the one in Kisame's bed by a mile wide.

'These vermin know how to live in style,' Sakura thought, laughing in her head.

The huge nest was made out of tens of thousands of yen.

"Son of a _fucking bitch_," Kakuzu growled. He threw the drawer on the bed and started pulling out more drawers. Sakura started snapping necks but there were too many for one cat to catch them all.

Kakuzu picked her up and threw her on the bed, too.

"Let me take care of this," he told her.

She watched in horror as he did some horrendous jutsu, and some kind of strings or hairs came from his body, each one snatching mice and ripping off heads, snapping their tiny necks, or breaking their backs. She shivered at the gruesomeness, and then shook even more when she thought of the so called 'string' tied around her very own neck at the moment.

'Kami-sama, give me strength,' she thought weakly.

"Go in the kitchen, cat, I'll be right there."

She looked at him warily.

"Go on."

She jumped of the bed and walked sideways to the door, watching him the whole way. She actually backed out the door and when she went down the hall she kept an eye on his door to make sure he didn't sneak up on her.

She came around the corner to the kitchen and had to leap out of the way as a kunai embedded itself in the wooden floor where she had been standing. Her heart was pounding in her ears.

"Oops, slipped," Hidan smirked.

She hissed at him, her hair rising on her back.

The next second Sakura was shocked as she witnessed a kunai seeming to erupt from Hidan's chest.

"Ow! Oi, you fucking bastard! What did you do that for?" He yanked the knife from his chest and stabbed it into the table.

"I told you to leave it alone. Now get in there and pick up all those dead vermin. Let's see how you like playing the cat. Maybe then you'll leave it to do its job."

"What's your fucking problem? I was just playing with it."

"That cat just saved us a months' worth of missions to make up for the money we would have lost if those mice had been there another couple days. We've already lost some money, and until I figure out how much, I want you to keep your damn mouth shut and your damn head down. Or you'll get a hell of a lot more than a little _prick_ in your chest."

"Ok, ok, _jeez_, can't even take a fucking joke," grumbling, Hidan left to go pick up the dead mice and Kakuzu turned his bright green eyes on Sakura.

"A long time ago my master once told me, 'Beware of people who dislike cats.'" Kakuzu said, "You'd do well to take that to heart and stay clear of that guy."

Sakura hissed again and backed up under a chair, thinking with his ultra short temper he might take some of that anger out her, too.

Kakuzu simply went over to the cupboard and pulled out a saucer. Then he went to the fridge and pulled out some milk, poured it in the saucer and set it down on the floor.

"Thanks, cat," he said, walking back down the hall to his room.

Facing the hall the zombie twins went down Sakura sat at the saucer and began to lap up the creamy drink. It was delicious, and she was not going to turn her nose up at any food they shared with her. She purred heavily and sat enjoying her treat while, absentmindedly, listening to Hidan cursing a blue streak from Kakuzu's room while he cleaned up the huge, gory mess. She finished her treat and cleaned her face. It wasn't easy drinking like a cat. She had milk soaking her muzzle and whiskers. Once she was done she went out the kitchen window to breathe some air that didn't reek of fear, insanity, and death.

0o0o0

Back in Kakuzu's room:

0o0o0

"Clean it up. I want all these carcasses disposed of…the blood too."

"Let the damn cat do it, you stitched-up prick," the death nin dared to talk back to his partner.

Kakuzu's aura darkened the room as he seemed to grow larger. His eyes narrowed, calculating. "I want you to understand what you'll be doing if that cat dies before this problem goes away."

"Why the hell did you say that fucking, stupid cat could stay here?"

"Vermin eat our food and damage our expensive equipment. Cat gets rid of vermin, cat stays, simple economics. Those damn mice were even eating our _money_. What do you care if it's here anyway? You're always out on missions."

"Jashin dislikes cats. I hate stupid cats."

"_You're_ stupid and we let you stay. _Hell_, we even gave you your own room."

"I'm gonna _kill_ that cat."

"Just wait until it does its job first or your next mission will be rat duty."

Remembering the large rat on his plate the morning before, Hidan closed his eyes and grit his teeth. Trying to keep the shiver from crawling up his spine.

In his fucking food no less.

That cat didn't know who she was messing with.

0o0o0

0o0o0

0o0o0

Things you probably already know:

"They say the cat was created when the lion sneezed." Arabian proverb.

This proverb dates back to the story of Noah's ark. It was said that the rats on board the ark had no problem propagating (multiplying). So, in need of a solution, Noah asked God for help. God had the lion sneeze, out of the left nostril came the female cat. He sneezed again and out of the right nostril came the male cat. This legend also comes from other cultures such as the Pueblo Indians, with a slightly different, but no less interesting telling.

Janken- Is a fist game, namely-rock, paper, scissors.

Yen-money, currency.

"Beware of people who dislike cats." – Irish proverb

A/N- I might have been channeling a little Gollum there. "I hates stupid hobbits."/I hate stupid cats. I so wanted to put that s on hate. Ahaha. If you don't know who J.R.R. Tolkien is disregard this a/n. (and, if that is so, where have you been the last 30 years? L.O.T.R. Best books ever. The hobbit is my favorite. I wanted to live in Lothlorien.)

Anyways.

Please

Review.

I want to know what you think.

Thanks

K&K


	5. Chapter Break 5 Fortune Favors the Bold

I do not own naruto.

Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter 5-_Fortune Favors the Bold_

_Luck Favors the Brave _

_Providence Favors the Prepared_

0o0o0

A/N-Bonus: Nice long chapter here (4000+plus), I have a long FK (5000+Plus)chapter coming up very soon too. If you know me you know my chapters are usually about half that. But I guess the extra week gave me more to say. Hope you like it.

K&K

0o0o0

0o0o0

0o0o0

Itachi had been gone four days now and Sakura had to admit she was becoming a bit worried. After all he was her primary target. She certainly didn't want to return home with the news that Itachi and Sasuke had fought to the death while she was there and she had messed up her opportunity to capture Itachi.

'Not that I would have been able to stop him from leaving the base even if I did capture him,' she maintained.

Kisame had left yesterday, off on a solo mission to god knows where and that stupid, idiot Hidan had wasted no time in finding ways to hassle her.

But not before she captured Kakuzu.

0o0o0

With Kisame gone, she pretty much stuck like glue to the money loving masked nin and he had stuck to working his books. She had busied herself for a while hunting out a few of the stray mice they had missed capturing yesterday. He had rewarded her with some more milk and a few scraps of leftovers from his meals.

Kakuzu had been busy counting out some kind of foreign gold coins at his desk, while she sat on his bed being bored. As she absently swatted at the dust motes floating lazily through a beam of light coming through his window, she tried to figure out how to get his attention since the man only had eyes for his money or accounting books. She had a feeling he wouldn't take kindly to her jumping on his desk to visit. He wasn't exactly the friendly type…in fact he was unquestionably foul tempered.

Fate stepped in for the feline disguised ninja when one of the coins fell from the tall stacks Kakuzu was sorting, bounced off the desk, and rolled across the floor.

In a flash, Sakura had jumped down off the bed to chase it down. By the time she snagged it the gleaming gold coin had rolled under the bed. She darted under the bed and pounced on the burnished bit of entertainment. She was planning to bat it about for a while, but a pair of scary luminous green eyes showed themselves directly in front of her at the bedside.

The snow white cat sat atop the coin and faced Kakuzu as if in challenge for it. His hand reached out for the gold but froze, eyes narrowed in incomprehension for a fraction of a second, as if he had seen something strange before Sakura heard him speak the words of the spell.

Or…in his case…the words of her curse.

"Your soul is tied to my heart."

Sakura clearly heard the tone of the bell as did he, he looked around as if it had come from behind him. When he looked back at her, Sakura was batting the coin in his direction. The distraction of his obsession caught his attention anew and he snatched up the coin from her, went back to his desk and placed it neatly on one of the stacks, resuming his work.

That had been pure luck, Sakura reflected in amazement.

0o0o0

Unfortunately, after that her luck ran dry.

Through the bedroom window, she saw the clouds darkening the sky. Sakura decided to get outside for a bit to get some 'fresh air' before she was forced to do it in the rain. As she left, she had seen Hidan come sauntering out from his room. Wasting no time, she hastily jumped out the kitchen window.

When she came back later the kitchen window was closed to her.

It was raining quite hard by that time. She jumped blindly up and literally bounced off the window. Then she hopped up to the outer sill to see why the window was closed, perhaps rain was coming in, she considered.

No. It was shut and there his stupid face was, on the other side of the glass, grinning at her like a madman.

'Bastard!' she hissed at him while her soaked fur struggled to rise along her spine.

The one bright spot for Sakura was the jerk had not known Kisame had left his window open, too. The only problem with that, of course, was she couldn't get back into the rest of the house with Kisame's door closed. Now she would have to find her own food, until someone she trusted not to kill her came back to the base. Kakuzu had seemed ok, but he had a short temper and she did not want to aggravate him.

Therefore, even with a warm place to come out of the rain, there was no food. The feline stayed to rest of the day in Kisame's room mostly sleeping. She found and killed another little family of mice residing in his closet, but she couldn't stomach the thought of eating them. 'I would eat worms first,' she thought with a shiver.

0o0o0

She almost got her wish. The next two days she woke to find it raining steadily. Sakura considered finding some bugs that second morning, but she knew that would be a bit difficult with the rain. The only bug that willingly came out into the rain that she knew of, was an earthworm. Her stomach growled with hunger. Those dead mice lying in the corner were starting to sound appetizing. The long-tailed girl went out for a bit, drank plenty of water, and hoped someone would return soon to save her from the seemingly inevitable fate of eating such unappetizing things.

Late that night, someone did.

0o0o0

The disguised Konoha nin had been sitting in the window of Kisame's room, staring out at the dark lash of the seemingly endless rain as it bounced off the pushed out pane.

Sakura wondered if the worms she would definitely be eating by tomorrow would taste better if she chewed them or swallowed them whole. She cringed, willing herself not to think of worms moving around in her stomach, trying to get out, or of the slimy, sticky substance exuded outside their body when Naruto had put one on the hook for her once when they had gone fishing with poles instead of kunai. The starving cat also tried not to think of the dark, bloody substance that came out where he had speared the worms with the hook.

She was so hungry she _almost _didn't care.

'Maybe baby mice aren't as gross as the adult ones,' she speculated momentarily and shivered, 'nah.'

'The rain will stop tomorrow,' she told herself encouragingly, 'then I'll find plenty of grasshoppers or maybe even another chipmunk. I can eat it if I don't look at its sweet furry face. I know I can.'

'Yeah, right,' Her inner voice groused for the four hundredth time.

The Hokage's assistant found it hard to believe she was fantasizing about eating cute little chipmunks.

She heard the faint sounds of an argument coming from outside. The feline quickly jumped out the window to see who had arrived back to the Akatsuki base.

0o0o0

0o0o0

"Hn. If there is one thing I hate more than flying in the rain, it's flying in the rain with you!" Deidara complained.

"Senpai."

"Shut up! You haven't been quiet for the last five hours. You're so heavy I couldn't even get up high enough to avoid the rain clouds," the Iwa nin accused, "Just leave me alone, un."

"But Senpai, I offered to share my umbrella with you."

"Just get away from me."

Sakura ran up to the two nin coming in for a landing on the large, rather sloppy-looking, clay bird. They landed, and the blond released his jutsu. The bird disappeared with a wet blurping sound and the nin walked towards the house.

"Why, hello, kitty-chan! What are you doing out in the rain so late?"

"Mmroew," Sakura brushed up against the legs of the nin who spoke first, Tobi, she believed his name to be. The other ninja looked quite wet as well as unhappy, so she gave him his space. She was soaked, too, after only a few minutes out in this heavy shower.

"Would you like to come inside, Kitty-chan?" Tobi offered.

"Mmreww," Sakura was hoping they were hungry too, she didn't savor the idea of another night with no food or getting caught breaking into their food storage.

The ragtag group went into the house. Sakura looked around for Hidan but saw no sign of him.

'Sleeping peacefully in his bed, no doubt,' she thought sarcastically, 'having sweet dreams of drowning kittens.'

The two ninja went into their rooms to change while Sakura cleaned her fur under the kitchen table, in case the silver haired bane of her existence showed his face.

When the pair came back into the kitchen a while later, the small damp cat sat begging unashamedly by the refrigerator.

"Are you hungry, Kitty-chan?" Tobi asked, getting out some stuff from a cupboard.

"Mmmrrrw," She rumbled loudly, purring a little at the thought of eating real food and not crunchy, slimy, bitter, bugs.

Kakuzu came into the kitchen just then and stopped to look at her in surprise.

"I thought you left," He said.

"Meow."

"The kitty was outside," Tobi told him, "we just let her in."

"In the rain?" He questioned. "I was under the impression cats didn't like water."

"You were going to leave a window open for her," Tobi said.

"We did." Kakuzu looked up and saw it was not only closed, but locked. "Hidan must have shut the window when she went out. I haven't seen the cat in a few days, the idiot must be feeling threatened by it," he chuckled forebodingly.

"Kitty-chan, do you want some of my sandwich?" Tobi asked.

Sakura jumped into his lap, purring and eating right out of his hand. She didn't care much for manners at the moment. She didn't even care that he was eating peanut butter and jelly either. The famished feline tried not to choke, scarfing her food so fast. She managed…barely.

Kakuzu opened the kitchen window once more and got out a small dish of milk. Purring in contentment Sakura licked the dish dry, then climbed back up into Tobi's lap and purred at him. He patted her absentmindedly, talking non-stop to his Senpai. When they left for bed, she padded silently after the brightly masked boy into his room, choosing to sleep under his bed. She didn't quite trust that a ninja could be so happy all the time, he had to be hiding something, but she figured she would at least be safe from Hidan for one night.

The next morning, Sakura followed Tobi out to the kitchen and sat under the chair of the blonde nin, hoping to avoid seeing Hidan, but knowing she would have to face him sooner or later.

"Oi! Who let that damn cat back in?" Hidan complained coming into the room.

"I thought I told you to let it finish the job before getting rid of it," Kakuzu said angrily.

Hidan put up his hands in feigned innocence, "I thought it was done here."

"Bullshit, this place is still infested."

"Then it wasn't doing the job anyways right?" Hidan wheedled.

"How can it do its job when you lock it out of the house, bakayaro?"

"Stupid cat went outside, how was I to know it didn't want to stay out there?"

"The window stays open," Kakuzu warned, "don't make me tell you again."

"Hai, hai, leave the white rat alone, got it already," Hidan sneered, "Get off my fucking back."

"We have a mission. Be ready to leave at noon," Kakuzu told him.

"Hai, wakatta."

Sakura ate the Akatsuki affiliate's leftovers for her breakfast. Just as she finished, a mouse zipped across the floor and into the living room. Konoha's number one mouser ninja decided it was time to get back to work. She took off after it, chasing it around, playfully letting it get away a bit before finally pouncing on it to make the kill. Sakura was carrying the fat mouse to the kitchen, when the young blonde walking past her stopped midstride to watch her drop her kill in front of the stove.

"Want someone to cook that for you?" he jested.

She narrowed her eyes at him and turned away, cleaning a paw.

"Hey puss, come here," the blue-eyed boy called, "I could use some exterminating done in my room, yeah."

She looked at him for a second then continued to clean her paw.

"Come on kitty, kitty, kitty," he coaxed, "I'll make it worth your while."

"Mrew?" she walked over and looked up at him like she might be interested.

"Hn, that's a good girl," he enticed her, "come on, yeah."

She let him coax her down the hall, into his room, with sweet words and promises.

He shut the door after her and opened his closet and bath doors.

There was a bunch of them in here before, eating my medium," he spoke to her like she could understand while she sat watching him with her head tilted. "The little bastards blew up, but I heard more of them sneaking around all last night." He jumped, landing on his bed, stuffing a pillow under his arm, laying his head on it yawning, "I'd appreciate it if you could get rid of them," He mumbled closing his eyes.

'For s-class criminals, these guys sure are lazy,' Sakura mused, 'if they worked together they could probably have been rid of the whole problem in a day.'

'And then where would you be?' her inner voice reminded her.

'Right,' she conceded, 'lazy ninja can be a good thing sometimes. But I will _never_ tell Kakashi I believe that,' she added stubbornly.

She got to work stalking out the hiding places for the mice living in the room.

She was surprised when she came across the first rat.

In his closet he kept a supply of what appeared to be highly explosive clay compound. She had to literally force herself to go in and investigate something that could make her into syrup in the blink of an eye. The clay had a sweet, earthy smell, probably why the mice were eating it before. This guy was lucky they hadn't blown the whole place to bits.

Back to the closet, she heard a scrape of a foot and looked back in to find a large rat with a mouthful of explosive clay.

The large rat hissed at her around its mouthful of the volatile compound and she hissed right back at it. Her hair standing on end, not from the sight of the rat but of the highly unstable substance it carried.

She understood the attraction, the clay smelled both earthy and sweet, like a substance most edible. She would had been tempted to taste it herself, if she could not understand what TNT was. Luckily, she could use her brain. Unlike the rat, who could only use its senses, in its search for food.

The rat had backed itself into a corner of the closet—facing her. It set down its prize and began eating it. Every time she tried to come closer, it bared its fangs at her or sat up on its hind legs to protect its fare from her.

Konoha's sweetheart was in a bit of a quandary. She could continue to allow this little bastard to eat until it literally exploded or she could attack it head on and take the chance of being bitten by the foul, diseased creature. If she got bitten and it became infected she would be in trouble. The medical ninja highly doubted these Akatsuki would take care of a sick cat when most barely tolerated her right now. They didn't seem to appreciate anything that was weak.

The next time the rat resumed eating, she saw her opening. She swiftly jumped high over its head and pushed off against the wall behind it, angling herself back down directly onto the back of its neck. She was quick enough to get her jaws around its neck before it could turn, and careful enough not to land her full weight onto its back, instead putting her feet down on the sides of its hoary body. She had less leverage this way but she wouldn't inadvertently make it detonate from the impact. She held the rat down as best she could and squeezed its neck cutting off its air.

The rat tried to buck underneath her, but she already had its weakest point, so she simply held the smelly vermin till she no longer felt its body moving. This way took a lot longer, but she was ok with that. Putting a paw on its chest, she made sure the heart was no longer beating.

A hiss came from her left and the cat turned to see an even larger rat coming for her. On her right, another rat that had to be its grandfather came charging at the same time. This rat was nearly her size—a gnarly thing, its fur gone in patches and a large chunk of it ear completely gone, with scars zigzagging here and there.

'Shit! If I turn to fight one I will leave myself exposed to the other,' she worried, 'How hard would Naruto laugh if I told him I was defeated by two rats and had to call Tsunade for help?'

Directly in front of her lay the pile of clay stacked about three feet high. Not having much choice, as her prey-turned-predator closed in, Sakura leapt on top of the explosive compound.

Working together, both rats immediately scrambled up the sides to get at her. She took advantage of having them being a bit separated to attack the smaller one. Jumping down behind the louse-ridden sac of hair, she attacked it from behind before it could turn its head back towards her. Snatching its neck with her sharp teeth she dragged it back down using the fall to land on its back, breaking it with her front feet.

The final, largest and most cunning rat was right behind her maneuver. It landed on top of her before she could get off the first struggling rat. The first one was mostly out of the battle, but she still had to avoid its sharp teeth as she was shoved into it from above.

She shot forward to get away from the grandfather before he could sink his teeth into her. Out of the closet, Sakura leapt for the first thing with some height, the dresser.

She hit the top of the breakfront and went sliding on the items that lay there, a row of senbon, freshly sharpened, oiled, and laid out on a cloth. The cloth, oil, sharpening stone, senbon and Sakura, all slid off the dresser and went flying.

Sakura clawed at the wood of the dresser trying to slow her momentum so she didn't end up impaling herself on the falling senbon. The sound of the stone and bottle hitting the floor woke Deidara, and it only took a glance for him to see the trouble the cat was having. In an instant he was off the bed, grabbed a falling senbon and sent it at the large rat before he reached out and snatched the falling cat by the neck as she lost her grip on the dresser.

The grandfather rat took the senbon right through his left eyeball, dying instantly.

Deidara held the cat against his chest. Her heart hammered a hundred miles per hour. She had lost control of that battle so quickly it wasn't even funny.

She hoped she had seen the last of the rats, she doubted she would be that fortunate again.

Who would have thought the rats were giving her more problems than the s-class ninjas?

Deidara looked around to assess the damage and decided it wasn't too bad.

"That one was pretty big, eh, cat?"

"Mrrow," Sakura agreed with him.

He set her down on the bed and picked up the fallen senbon. The hunter jumped down and went to his closet door.

"Mrreow," She said looking back at him expectantly. She waited till she had his attention and ran back into the closet.

She left the still living rat and grabbed the dead one, dragging it out into his room. She looked at him and meowed again waiting for him to come to her. She went back into the closet and meowed again. He poked his head in and she pushed a paw at the back end of the rat. Showing him it was still alive but incapacitated. Deidara picked up the hissing parasite by its tail and tossed it with the others.

He took some clay from the top of the pile that Sakura had been standing on a few minutes before, she watched in wonder as his hand actually chewed it.

A minute later his hand expelled the clay, he quickly formed it into a small bird. He tossed it to the floor and the clay rapidly expanded in size. The hawk sized bird hopped over to the rat carcasses, and picked them up in its maw, swallowing them whole.

Deidara crossed the room and opened the window above his bed. Sakura could still hear the half dead rat whining and gnashing its teeth inside the bird. The clay hawk lifted off the floor, flying out the window at high speed. Sakura leapt up to the bed, then the window sill, to watch as the bird flew off a fair ways from the base. It was high in the sky when the nin behind her spoke.

"Katsu!" he exclaimed, "The bird, plus its contents, exploded with a large bang.

Deidara lay back on his bed, putting his hands behind his head. Sakura jumped up beside him wondering if she was done.

"Hn. Arigato, Neko-chan," his deep voice rumbled, "Could have been a bit sticky there if they had discharged in here, yeah."

'How can you be so calm?' she wondered, 'The whole base would have blown sky high if those loaded rats had blown up in the closet!'

She put one paw on his chin. Deidara turned his head toward her. He reminded her of her two best friends from home both at the same time. Sure, he had hair like Ino's, but his eyes were more like Naruto's and his spirit, that carefree kind of happiness she so admired in her teammate. It made her feel a wave of homesickness.

"What's wrong, Neko-chan? You look sad. Did you want to eat those rats?" he asked, grinning mischievously and looking even more like her old friend.

"mrrow," she cried softly.

He scratched her behind her ear and she stretched, rubbing up into his fingers. She walked closer and bumped noses with him. Rubbing her cheek against his she curled closer to his ear, purring loudly she nuzzled the shell.

"You should leave this place, Neko-chan," he said solemnly, "it's hell."

'Not without you,' she thought, wondering how he had got to this place. Aside from his love of blowing things up, he didn't really seem to fit in.

"Hn. You know, since my last partner was defeated, this place has become pretty unbearable, but if I tried to leave Pein would kill me. My new partner is a complete idiot."

She sat up attentively. Hoping he might give her more information about the other Akatsuki member, the next words from his mouth shocked her.

"Hopefully my Danna will recover soon, then I can get rid of that boob, Tobi."

Sakura's ears perked up, 'His Danna?' she had heard this man refer to that name before, back in the cave in Suna, just before her battle with…no…it _couldn't_ be him.'

Sasori no Danna…his Danna. That was what he had called his partner. The man both she and Granny Chiyo had battled in the cave.

Akasuna no Sasori.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Things you probably already know:

Masaka-It can't be-no way.

Bakayaro-Dumbass-Someone deliberately being a jackass.

Hai, wakatta-Yes, I understand-understood.

Danna-like master or sir—sort of like Sakura calls Tsunade Shisou, it's a form of respect.

Akasuna no Sasori-Sasori of the Red Sands

Arigato, Neko-chan-Thanks, Kitty-or Cat-chan, if you prefer.

Breakfront-another name for dresser, cupboard, etc.

Ahaha! That Deidara! Calling a girl with sweet words and promises, and then taking a nap while she does the work. Just like a man, eh? Lol. Jk.

Thanks for reading and double thanks to those who review.

K&K


	6. Chapter Break 6 PeekaBoo…Guess Who?

I do not own Naruto

Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter Break 6 Peek-a-Boo…Guess Who?

0o0o0

0o0o0

Deidara's capture was a breeze.

Sakura only wished they were all that easy.

The unexpectedly laid-back explosives expert had napped away the afternoon with Sakura. It reminded her of the time when Neko-baa-chan had caressed her to sleep with the pile of kittens at Tsunade Shisou's house. She curled up next to him, lying on his luxurious golden hair. Deidara's hair smelled like sunshine and fresh air with the slightest acidic tang of the explosive paper tags she sometimes used. He had stroked Sakura's fur, making her feel content and safe, after the adventure they had, ridding the room of vermin.

'We work rather well together,' Sakura thought.

Later that day, before either of them was fully awake, he had absentmindedly read her collar aloud and both had heard the bell chime. Sakura had simply acted as if nothing happened and nuzzled back up into Deidara's hand enjoying the respite which, she knew, couldn't possibly last. The ex-Iwa-nin, she decided, would make an excellent cat.

It was funny, the thought of his hands having mouths in them didn't alarm her. They didn't bite or talk. The mouth of one only opened once, when she had curiously touched it, its tongue coming out to lick her nose. Sakura batted the accosting tongue from her face with a soft paw. The surprised cat couldn't decide if Deidara was teasing her, or if the odd mouths had some free will of their own…maybe it was a little of both. Sakura wondered what might happen to the mouths when his hands became paws.

Later, she had gone with him to have dinner. The feline sat licking her chops as he cooked ramen, adding eggs and bits of chicken to the broth and noodle dish. When the Deidara finished eating, he gave her the last third of his meal.

Afterwards, they lazed on the couch. He made little bugs with his clay, sending them around the room for her to chase. Tobi came in the room once when she had swatted one of the little clay spiders, accidently attaching it to him.

Deidara seeing the clay bug land on his partner quickly muttered, "Katsu," sending Tobi running, screaming like a little girl. The bug simply poofed into a small cloud with little spark. The explosives expert had not been trying to blow up something, he was simply playing with the cat, but he couldn't resist frightening his so-called partner. His deep laughter at the prank motivated her.

The next Akatsuki member to come into the living room was a different story. Sakura purposefully sent the three clay grasshoppers she was stalking sailing at him.

"What the hell!" Hidan screamed.

Sakura raced across the room and leapt to the safety Deidara provided. At his feet she slipped under his cloud covered robe and slunk stealthily up the side of his leg, waiting till she deemed it safe.

"Relax, un," Deidara grunted, "Katsu."

Hidan jumped as if bitten by the bugs 'blowing up' on him.

"Hn, see, they're duds," Deidara enlightened the zombie twin.

"Shithead! You got dust all over me!"Hidan whined.

"Poor baby, yeah," Deidara fussed.

Hidan left the room calling for Kakuzu and Deidara chuckled softly. Sakura tunneled up out his cloak, in between his neck and the blonde sweep of hair flowing over the arm of the couch, remaining hidden from the offended death nin in case he returned.

"Hn, you trying to get me in trouble, Neko-chan?"

She purred and licked the back of his neck.

"Hey now, un," he laughed softly, "that tickles."

Sakura continued to lick his neck, thankful Deidara hadn't gotten mad at her little stunt. Actually, he tasted pretty good, sweet and earthy, just like the way his clay had smelled. She thought it must be from his hands ingesting the substance on a regular basis. She wondered if he took on some of the more undesirable properties. Say for instance, if he was hit hard with one of her chakra-enhanced punches, would he blow up?

Sakura nibbled on his neck a little more, until he'd had enough and pulled her out from behind him, setting her on his chest.

"Yeah, you are a naughty little thing aren't you?" he asked mockingly.

"Mmmrrwoew," she purred innocently, nuzzling his cheek. She hopped down from the couch and ran to the side. Spying his pony tail hanging over the edge her paws suddenly itched to attack it.

Feeling mischievous, Sakura crouched down low, her tail twitched in anticipation. When his pony moved she pounced on it, holding it with her jaws and paws as she swung.

"Why you little-"

"Kitty-chan!" Tobi appeared from nowhere and pulled her out of the cursing Iwa nins hair. "You should not do that. Senpai doesn't like to be bothered."

"That's only by you, yeah," Deidara grouched, rising, "I'm fine with the cat."

"Senpai, you're so funny." Tobi was oblivious to the barb, "Kakuzu-san says we have a mission." he handed Deidara a scroll.

Deidara stood reading the scroll, "Fine, hn. We leave in one hour," he ordered, "be ready."

Sakura wanted to follow Deidara, but Tobi still held her tightly, she swung a paw in the blonde's direction as her partner in crime turned away.

0o0o0

"Come, Kitty-chan, you can watch me get ready then I'll get you a snack before we go," Tobi told the soft, furry girl purring under his arm. He brought her back to his room and closed them inside before he set her on his bed.

Sakura was taken aback. 'Another mission only two days after returning from the last one?' she wondered at the urgency, 'And these guys' missions were no walk in the park either. They were making money even Tsunade would be pleased with and she had to run a whole ninja community with what they pulled in.'

'Of course,' she conceded, 'these ninja had no sense of self preservation.' Taking on such dangerous missions on a regular basis was a bit insane. Even ANBU, with their lust for the edge were reined in a bit so as not to kill themselves off.

Now they were leaving again, and she didn't know if Itachi was ever coming back. Hidan still hadn't been captured and neither had this Tobi fellow. 'What if they didn't return in time?' she worried. Over a third of her allotted mission time had slipped away already. If their mission lasted more than two weeks, she probably wouldn't get another chance at this orange-masked guy.

Even though she had no chance to understand this disguised nin, or study how to get close to him or find clues as to where he was from, Sakura had to try to take Tobi now.

Skipping off the bed, the agile white cat shot up to the masked nin's dresser to get his attention. He was getting a clean Akatsuki cloak out of his closet, the last one hung in a corner, still drying out from the trip in the rain.

"Mmreow," she called to him.

"Sorry, Kitty-chan, I can't play right now, Senpai gets upset when I make him wait. His master doesn't like to be kept waiting," He informed her.

Master…Akasuna no Sasori? 'Holy shit! It was true?' She speculated, 'He's alive? How can that be possible?'

'Focus idiot!' her inner demanded, 'or you will lose this one too!'

'Yes. You're right,' Sakura agreed, leaving her thoughts about the puppet master till later and refocusing once more on the oddly happy ninja.

Intentionally, she pushed his kunai pouch off the dresser.

"Hey now, Kitty-chan," he came up to get the cat off his dresser and paused, "don't be making messes-"

'Tobi…Tobi,' she focused on the spike-haired man before her.

"Your soul belongs to my heart," Tobi read from her collar.

Sakura froze as the man's aura changed, suddenly darkening with malevolence.

"What kind of _foolishness_ is that?" He said ominously.

Sakura was astonished.

'No bell! It didn't toll—something's wrong.'

"You wouldn't happen to know an old woman that goes by the name Neko-chan?" He asked turning away from her, "Now would you…Kitty-chan?"

'Oh my god! ' she froze in shock, her tail bristling.

'He knows!'

'How does he know?' her inner questioned.

"Honestly," he went on, "does the old bag think she will capture _me_ with such a silly spell?" He turned back to her and she could see his sinister…Sharingan…eye through the mask's one opening.

'Uchiha!'

"Come on," he laughed.

'Uchiha!'

"Does that hag really think me saying 'your soul belongs to my heart' would be enough capture me, Uchiha Madara?"

'Uchiha!' Sakura's mind screamed…and then the bell toned.

They both heard it.

"Masaka! You couldn't know my name before I told you, so there's no way, that spell could work! Not one living soul outside this organization knows about me, and only a few here do! There's no _way_ that old witch's spell _could_ work!"

'Oh, but it had,' Sakura's inner fist pumped, 'Holy cow, thank God, unbelievably amazing! It had worked, but now what?'

His Sharingan had given her his name, she had seen enough Sharingan, even though this one's shape was odd, to know what it was immediately. Apparently, just knowing his last name was good enough for the spell, but who in the hell was this Uchiha Madara? He must be from Konoha but she thought all the other Uchiha's were long dead.

Something told her she should know who Uchiha Madara was, but right now she needed to get away from him, because the forgetfulness that usually followed the spell wasn't working this time.

"That's ok, Kitty-chan," he said brightly, scaring her even more, "I just need to kill you before you finish your mission," his red eye glinted.

"Can you talk, Kitty-chan? What village are you from?" he questioned her, "What was your name again?"

'Time to leave!' her inner burst out. Sakura jumped down and scrambled for the door.

The closed door.

"Now where do you think you are you going, Kitty-chan?" He said menacingly, "I have some more questions for you, and you are going to give me answers, girl."

There was a knock at the door.

"Meow!" She cried loudly scratching frantically at the door.

"Yo! Tobi! What you doing to the cat, un? You little closet-pervert! Get out here! Pein added another mission in Konoha on our way to pick up Danna.

The knob turned, Deidara opened the door.

'Konoha!' Sakura was alarmed, but she got her ass out the door before it was more than three inches open. She heard the strange Uchiha talking to Deidara.

"Jeez, Tobi, you jerk," the blonde was disgusted.

The masked man's Sharingan was turned off now so as not to blow his cover again.

"Tobi is a good boy. He wouldn't hurt the kitty!"

"Urusai! We have to pick up the chick that killed Sasori.

"What for Senpai?" Tobi slyly tried to catch a view of where the cat was hiding under Deidara's cloak.

"She's a gift to him. That pink-haired brat is going to become his new puppet, living art."

Sakura had heard enough. She darted out from under the blonde's robes and raced down the dim passage. She sprinted down the hall, weaved around Kakuzu, came out into the kitchen, and leapt to Hidan's shoulders. He was standing in the way of her escape from the window. From there she jumped to the sill and disappeared from sight.

She hid right outside the window to listen for the masked nin ratting her out. If he did, there was no where she would be able to hide from those ninja. Better to spy from here, get more information, and pray for a miracle.

0o0o0

Tobi came out into the kitchen looking for the little cat who had forced some kind of spell on him. Bending down he checked under the table.

"What the hell are you doing?" Hidan asked.

"I'm looking for the kitty," Tobi told him

"Don't you have a mission?" Kakuzu came up behind him.

"Yeah, come on, Tobi, let's get out of here."

"I want to say goodbye to the kitty," Tobi whined.

"Your stupid Kitty-chan is dead," Hidan smirked, "I just killed her, sacrificed her to Jashin-sama."

"Hidan," Kakuzu warned, knowing he was lying.

"Oh, that's too bad!" Tobi replied a bit too cheerfully.

'He didn't sound too sad,' Sakura thought wryly.

"You're a real dick, yeah," Deidara said angrily, "come on, Tobi, or you can walk to Konoha!"

"Coming Senpai!" The disguised Uchiha practically skipped out the front door as the other puzzled men watched him warily.

Kakuzu shook his head and turned back to Hidan.

"What did you lie to him for? The cat just ran through here."

"I know, but as soon as that stupid cat finishes its job I will be the one to kill it, and Tobi ain't going to come save it."

"Just make sure its job is done."

"Of course, Kakuzu-chan," the silver-haired ninja agreed. "That's why you love me. I always do what you say."

Sakura had heard it all. She decided maybe it would be best to sleep in Kisame's room for the night, just in case. At least she had a reprieve from death by Hidan and now Tobi for a few more days.

Why was it so important for the masked nin to keep her identity a secret? Why hadn't he just told and had her killed? Maybe they would question her too, and get the Uchiha's secret from her. Maybe he didn't want _them_ to know he was an Uchiha.

Anyway you sliced it, she was grateful for the reprieve.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Konoha

0o0o0

"Baa-chan, she finally has two more captured but maybe we should call her back. Twice in the last few days, I strongly felt she was in mortal danger."

"You both knew the risks would be great to harvest such a reward," Neko-chan reminded her, "If you pull her back now before she captures Itachi, she will feel you have no confidence in her and our chance at saving the last Uchiha blood will be lost," she scolded Tsunade. "Those boys are headed for a cliff, neither one will survive at this point. Sasuke himself has come by my village, looking for sign of his brother's passing."

"What did you do?"

"What could I do? I told him I believed Itachi was residing in the land of Wave but who knows if he will follow that carrot?" She admitted. "He has this strange, rude kunochi who is supposed to be helping him find Itachi, says she can sense chakra but she glommed onto the idea that Itachi was down south right away."

"That's good right? Itachi is in the other direction, isn't he?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, 'Nade'," she sighed.

"I have yet to receive notice she's captured Itachi yet. I wish I knew who she's come across and captured. We don't even know if they are Akatsuki. She only has two more weeks to finish the mission and if Itachi's really is in Wave, we'll never get the answers I need from him."

"Calm down dear. Have faith in the girl. She's your student. Do you truly think she would let you down?"

"Your right, Neko-chan, forgive me," the Hokage smiled.

"You're just worried about her. Sakura-chan will be home soon," the cat lady assured her. "By the way, have you prepared accommodations for these men?"

"Yes they will be staying in the old Uchiha district. I have a few special ops working on the two Uchiha's family home, restoring it to livable condition as we speak. They are also setting up an emergency surgery and lab there, seeing as how if one of them is injured they won't be able to go to the hospital. Sakura will have a handle on things there and I'll help where I can. We're making it livable for Sakura and her prisoners. She'll have to stay with them but I'll have a few others who know enough to help keep guard so Sakura can still work and have a somewhat normal life for the next three years. It's going to be a long haul."

"The toughest jobs are often the most rewarding, Tsunade," Neko-chan smiled warmly.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Things you probably already know:

Masaka-no way-it can't be-impossible.

Urusai-shut the hell up-rude way of saying, be quiet.

A/N-Thanks for helping proofread this Sakura's Indecision! Four guys down! Who will be next? The plot thickens eheheh.

I really like to hear feedback.

I also want to say thank you for all the thoughtful reviews I've received thus far. This story has been fun to write and hopefully the best stuff is yet to come.

Please review.

K&K


	7. Ch Break 7 Don't Give Up On a Stranger

I do not own Naruto.

Cat-O-Nine Tails

Chapter break 7

Don't Give Up On a Stranger

0o0o0

A/N-Please forgive me for making Kakashi seem a bit of a sexist pig, e-heh, yeah.

Also, Thank you so much to Sakura's Indecision for editing this so nicely for me. You're an angel!

0o0o0

0o0o0

"Why in the hell do we have to do this stuff?" Genma screwed down the steel-plated board to the top of the handmade surgical table. "Don't they have, like, people who specialize in building this kind of…thing?"

"Hokage's orders. And don't you breathe a word of this. I got you put on this high salary, extended mission because you're a friend and I know you can keep your mouth shut when it counts. Don't let me down."

"You know I won't, Hatake-kun. What the hell is gonna happen here anyhow? Why can't we get our mission status yet?" Genma pointed to where Sai was screwing the doors on nine large metal cages all along one wall of the room. "We opening up some kind of secret vet clinic?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what we are doing," Kakashi humored him, "Now get that set of surgical lights from the hall. We have only about two weeks left to get this place in order."

"Can't we just have Tenzou…ya know," Genma made a few hands signs, "He could have this done in like ten minutes."

"Wood cannot be sterilized the same as steel," the former Anbu said roughly from directly behind Genma's shoulder which caused him to start and drop his screwdriver, "I have more than my share of work repairing the damage to this old place, don't you think?"

"You bastard! Ya need to wear a bell when you're in the village," Genma chuckled weakly as he picked up his tool, "Didn't anyone tell you it's impolite to sneak up on people?"

"You, on the other hand," Yamato went on, "only have to modernize this one room, dust and move some furniture."

"If you ladies are done bitching, can we finish this?" Kakashi chided, "If I had known you were gonna whine about getting S-rank pay for fixing up a house and doing a little babysitting, I would have found a few good women instead. At least then I would have something pretty to look at."

"Speaking of women, why isn't Dickless here helping?" Sai broke in.

"Naruto is not to know anything regarding what's about to happen here," Kakashi cautioned.

"Yeah, Junior," Genma went on, "and if you pin one of your stupid nicknames on me, like Dickless, your balls are gonna know what it's like to be pinned to the wall with a few senbon," Genma grinned around the needle-sharp weapon perched between his teeth.

"I know it's gonna be difficult but we have to keep Naruto out of the loop. If he finds out, there will be no keeping him away and it's too dangerous for him," Kakashi warned them.

"We have to keep this secret from the village, the whole Fire Nation, heck, all of the nations. It's that important. You'll see. But first, we have to hope our wards make it here alive with the captain of our unit."

"Captain?" The three males looked at Kakashi curiously.

"I guess I can tell you that much," the silver-coiffed nin conceded, "If she makes it back in one piece, our captain for this extended mission is the Hokage's apprentice."

"Ugly?" Sai queried.

"Sai, you have got to come up with a better moniker or she really is gonna kick your ass one of these times and I'm gonna sit back and enjoy watching," Kakashi turned to work on the electrical, "Genma, get me those lights already."

"You got it," Genma replied happily, "I sure won't mind having that Taichou bossing me around. She's got a rockin' hot-"

"Genma," Kakashi's Sharingan was exposed, flashing, "That's my favorite student you're sexualizing."

The senbon-chewing ninja grinned and scratched the back of his head, "Sorry 'Kashi. I forgot you were so uptight about that 'sensei' crap."

Kakashi smiled back, the narrowing eye with the spinning tomoes giving the other man a chill, "You won't believe what she's been up to."

"So, there's five of us working as a unit?" Yamato asked.

"No, as of right now, there are six."

"Six? Who is number six?" Sai asked.

"Better question," Genma interrupted, "Why isn't he helping with all the grunt work?"

"Well," Kakashi scratched the back of his head, "about that…"

"Yo," the sixth ninja spoke leaning against the doorway of the surgical room.

"The lazy genius," Genma muttered, "now we know the reason he hasn't shown up to work."

"Ahaha. Yes well…Shikamaru, I was beginning to think you got lost."

"Bothersome. I never request extra work between missions."

"Haha, yes. Well, the Hokage thought you would probably figure out what was going on anyhow so she decided to put you on the team from the start."

"I was in the room when the first one was captured."

"First one?" Sai looked curious.

"You already know?" Genma raised an eyebrow.

"…not exactly, I notice things."

"Things?"

Shikamaru heaved a great sigh, "Well, first off, the Hokage started to wear this collar. When Asuma was giving her a report, she touched said collar, yelling about 'getting one'. I sorta assumed she meant an enemy since she kicked us out of her office so quickly. Sakura was sent off on a solo mission wearing the same type collar almost two weeks before; I happened to see her leaving the hospital just before she left. At first, I figured it was some kind of communication device, but now I think it just tells her, with some sort of jutsu, whether a target has been spotted or captured."

He sighed once more as if all this brain work had completely worn him out.

"Anyway, whoever Haruno captured must be someone important enough to hide. Considering where they are being hid, I also assume it might have something to do with the Uchiha or maybe this is just the perfect place to hide them. This place is completely abandoned and even thugs won't come near it until the last Uchiha is dead. It's also close enough for the Hokage to keep an eye on and continue to run day-to-day business. For this secret to be kept from Anbu or even the Council, it's got to be colossal. It is logical to set up a surgery in case the captives are injured but, I got to admit, I am at a loss to explain the need for cages."

The senbon slipped from Genma's lip. He caught the sharpened piece of steel as it fell, "Ya know, it's probably a blessing that those damn Nara are so lazy. If they ever got the lust for power we'd all be at their mercy."

"No worry there," Shika replied yawning, "I've seen the paperwork Tsunade has to wade through. You couldn't force me to take that job."

"Good thing the Nara's are working for our side."

"I've got one other thing to say," Nara informed them, "Come with me."

Shikamaru led them out of the house through what was once a splendid garden to a large, dilapidated shack out back.

"What, now we have to fix up the yard?"

"Well, I'm something of a history buff of Konoha's families." Shika started, "When Konoha was founded, the Uchiha's got some of the most prime land for their Clan of course. Most people never knew this; the Uchiha's had a bit of a secret."

"Huh," Kakashi grunted, "just one?"

"Alright. They had many secrets but this was a secret of the Clan's land. You see, most of the head houses in the Uchiha Clan had their own…," he opened the shed doors for them to see.

"Hot spring. Bingo! This mission just went from good to gravy! We get to use these?"

"Tsunade said yes…on one condition. We don't make any noise tearing down the building and putting up one that won't fall on our heads. Oh, and we have to make it look nice. Tsunade will be here sometimes as well and she wants our guests, as well as our Taichou, to feel at home since they will be spending the majority of their time at this estate."

"Now I'm really curious to see who will be staying here," Genma wondered, "Hokage-sama wouldn't put in this kind of effort for Sasuke."

"More on the order of a jail cell for the traitor," Sai added.

"But why would she put up a criminal in comfort? It has to be someone else. Someone powerful. Maybe it's a political personage seeking asylum. Or what about another Jinchuriki," Yamato suggested, "If Konoha had two, we would be the most powerful hidden village. It would be wise to keep something like that under wraps."

"You guys gossip more than most women," Kakashi noted, "You will find out everything you need to know in the next two weeks. Just remember, don't be seen coming into this property. I know one thing; whoever shows up is going to be considered extremely dangerous so don't let your guard down. Find a believable excuse to use while you are here working so no one comes snooping. If you need help, just ask the genius. One more thing, each of us still get to go on other missions so as not to arouse suspicion."

"Even Sakura?" Sai questioned.

"No, I'm afraid this mission is going to keep her tied down for an immeasurable length of time. She was aware of it before she took it on and is committed to see it through to the end."

"Well then the least we can do is give her a nice place to come home to," Genma commented.

"I agree completely," Kakashi nodded, "let's get to work. Yamato, I believe this," he waved at the rotted wood of the partially caved-in bathhouse, "is going to require some of your expertise."

"Why do I get the feeling the only reason I was recommended for this mission is because of my wood working jutsu?"

"Nonsense," Kakashi disagreed, "You have great water skills too. Let's see if you can clean out that old water pond in the garden later and we will fill it full of Nishikigoi for Sakura."

"You should get nine gold and one black koi," Sai said, "It's supposed to be good luck.'

"No get different colors," Genma disagreed, "Girls like pretty stuff."

"Let's worry about that later. Sai, you help Yamato get started out here. Genma and I will finish inside. Shikamaru, you tour the rest of the compound. I want to keep this place looking exactly the same to outsiders and you have to make it so no one without clearance will be able to get in. We will be placing a strong genjutsu over the property to make it look rundown and empty if anyone does happen to come near."

"Hai," Shikamaru disappeared.

"Hey, how come he gets the easy job?"

"Because he's the genius. Besides if we put him to work here, he will slack off. He actually has the most demanding job of all; strategizing to keep the goings-on in the entire compound a state secret. Once we finish here, most of the hard work will be done for us."

"You know, sometimes I forget it but you're a genius too. Aren't you Hatake?"

The mask rose as Kakashi's eye twinkled merrily, "Of course Genma. I always look out for my friends, don't I?"

0o0o0

Grass-Akatsuki base:

0o0o0

A few days passed since the strange ninja revealed to be a missing Uchiha left the base. Sakura stayed far away from the remaining two men, not wanting to wear out her welcome. She also made sure there was a fresh pile of dead mice in the kitchen every morning. Most times, Kakuzu left something on the windowsill for her to eat.

It was frustrating waiting around. Even though she had yet to capture Hidan, she found herself making excuses not to confront him. Two times in the last three days he had called seeking her, for what dark reason she could only guess; either mousing or torture. She convinced herself, after the Tobi incident, that she had pushed her luck far beyond the breaking point. Sakura had found no way to safely get close enough to the crazy, purple-eyed man with the mountain-sized chip on his shoulder. She was at an impasse.

If only they knew he was right about the cat.

'Good thing they all thought he was an idiot,' her inner self smirked.

Sakura could try to capture the sly idiot, possibly getting killed or maimed, or she could wait and see if her main target came back to the base before her time ran out.

She decided to wait for Itachi.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Four days later, Itachi returned.

Or, more accurately, Kisame returned with Itachi's body.

The large, blue nin rolled into the base in the middle of a warm, sleepy day.

Sakura was surprised as hell when the front door slammed open and the ex-mist nin strolled in with what appeared to be Itachi's remains laying over his shoulder.

Kisame strode decisively into the living room, heading straight for Itachi's room. Sakura, who had been hiding under the couch, beat him to it and was waiting at the Uchiha's door like a good med-nin, to check on the patient.

He laid Itachi on the bed. She joined him.

"MMmrrow?" she greeted them.

"Hello kitten. Can't play now. As you can see I've got my hands full. Itachi had a spat with his ototo and he got the worst of it. Well, from what I could tell, anyways, the other guy didn't look too pretty either."

'Sasuke-kun!'

Sakura was shocked. She sat down heavily and watched as Kisame began to administer aid to Itachi.

'He didn't say Sasuke-kun was dead,' her inner scolded, 'Don't forget your mission!'

The kunoichi's medic training kicked in full force.

When Kisame left the room to get something, Sakura put her paw on Itachi's neck.

'Pulse, thready. Skin cool, waxen and pale,' she thought sneaking a look to see if Kisame was coming back she hurriedly pushed up an eyelid, 'Pupils fully dilated, blood vessels blown from extreme overuse of sharingan.' She dropped the lid back, feeling sick. He was barely alive.

Kisame came back and stripped off Itachi's robe and outer garments. He then proceeded to remove the hastily wrapped bandages and clean Itachi's wounds. Sakura, sitting silently on the bed, watched his chest and listened carefully. His breath was ragged, wet, phlegm-filled, and shallow. If he had contracted pneumonia he would not survive. Apparently, he had been unconscious for a few days.

'Damn,' she cursed, feeling helpless. She needed more information. Her current form was useless, weak. If this man was in a hospital, she would be introducing IV fluids, testing his blood, scanning his throat and lungs, administering oxygen, meds and chakra healing. Here, in the middle of nowhere, there was none of that help.

The medic-nin knew Itachi had some preexisting condition. 'How long since he had last taken his meds?' she wondered. 'His chakra levels are practically non-existent. What he needs most, that can be accomplished here,' she decided, 'are meds and clean wounds. If Kisame takes care of one, I can at least try to find the other.'

Having a course of action open to her, Sakura scrambled to find a solution.

'Where would I keep my pills if I were Uchiha Itachi?' She contemplated, 'how am I going to get them into him without looking suspicious?'

Kisame began to clean and re-bandage the deathly pale nin. Sakura got off the bed and wandered around the room.

'Dresser? No, too obvious. Besides he would need them close if traveling for more than a few days. No way could he easily find specialized drugs on the road.'

Then her eyes lit on the torn and bloody robe Kisame had thrown into the corner.

"Yoshi!"

She rushed over to the bloody robe. Checking back to make sure Kisame was occupied, she ducked under the lip of the robe and crawled into the dark mass. It smelled of sweat, smoke and blood but she ignored that; she had grown accustomed to such smells over the years. She felt carefully over each and every part, looking for a secret pocket he could keep his meds in. She tried hard not to think of how easily a small pill bottle could have been lost in battle.

'There!' She found it. Her paw squelched in a particularly bloody patch right next to where the bottle lay. She dug into the pocket and found the small bottle deep inside. She caught it in her mouth and crept out of Itachi's robe, making sure Kisame was still busy patching the bloody Uchiha up.

'Now, how am I supposed to give this to him? He's gonna know I'm no ordinary cat if I just walk right up to him with a bottle of pills.'

'Maybe not,' her inner argued, 'Maybe since you already captured him, he won't think anything about it.'

No. That was just too big a risk to take.

Then she had an idea.

She ran under the bed and, setting the bottle down, peeked out. Kisame was still working intently. She picked up the bottle and laid it on its side next to Kisame's foot.

Then she jumped up on the bed.

"He doesn't look too good, kitten," Kisame informed her after he finished the arduous process of cleaning and rewrapping the Uchiha's many flesh wounds.

'Meooww.'

"I don't know what else to do," he sighed, "I'll check to see if anybody has a healing scroll." He shifted his feet and kicked the small bottle that lay there. The noise drew his attention.

"What's this?" he picked it up and read the label. "Oi! You didn't say you were on something Itachi. I wonder if this is why you are so unresponsive."

"Mrrew," Sakura coaxed.

"Well, it has his name on it so let's give it a try."

The ex-Mist nin went into the bathroom and came back with a glass of water. He opened Itachi's mouth and ground the pill to dust onto his tongue. Then, lifting his head, he forced just a little water down the young man's throat. Itachi swallowed automatically and Kisame laid him back on the bed.

"Now I'll go see if someone's got one of those med-jutsu scrolls for regaining chakra health. God knows if I lose a partner right now, I'll probably be stuck with that Tobi imbecile."

Leaving, he closed the door. Sakura jumped back up next to her ex-teammate's elder brother and lay up close to his neck so she could monitor his breathing and pulse. Minutes later, she could feel a slight easing to his breathing, but she could also feel his chakra wavering.

Kisame came back and unrolled a scroll on Itachi's chest.

'That is a forbidden jutsu,' she recognized, the fur rising along her spine. Swiftly backing away from the two men, she watched raptly.

The blue-skinned ninja bit his thumb, did a few hand seals and then slapped his bloody hand on Itachi's chest right atop the paper. The scroll poofed from existence and a cool, white glow enveloped Itachi. Sakura, who jumped back further into the corner, watched in fascination as Itachi seemed to be pulled from the brink of death before her very eyes.

'I have got to bring that jutsu home with me,' she avowed.

A half-hour later, the glow was gone. Sakura was back in her spot next to the patient's shoulder, watching a much-healed Uchiha taking deep, oxygen-restoring breaths.

Kisame smiled, "I think he's out of the woods, kitten. Come on, he needs lots of sleep. He ain't going nowhere for at least a week. Let's go get some chow."

"Mrreoow," Sakura agreed loudly and leapt up onto his shoulder to accompany him to the kitchen.

"You wouldn't believe how long it took me to scrape through the wreckage and come up with him," he told the cat purring madly on his shoulder, "I thought the boy was vulture bait for sure."

0o0o0

Two days later

0o0o0

He became aware of the sunlight on the back of his eyelids, bright red and warm. He lay in a soft familiar bed in a nearly silent room. He smelled someone cooking the red bean paste that was part of his favorite dish. Every muscle in his body throbbed and ached. He felt he could drink gallons of water but, remarkably, he was alive.

Something soft was rumbling soothingly against his throat.

Itachi's eyes slid slowly open. The young feline sat watching him warily as he tried, rather unsuccessfully at first, to focus his bloodshot eyes for the first time in days. Kisame had somehow managed to drag Uchiha Itachi back from the dead.

The first thing he saw was a fuzzy ball of fur and two amazingly green, intensely curious eyes staring into his own.

"Sukoshi?"

He coughed a bit at the dry scratchiness in his throat and abruptly felt a new presence enter the room.

"I told you that cat was in love with you," Kisame grinned and the cat sneezed, "Welcome back stranger."

Itachi laughed weakly, "I have heard that the vibration of a cat's purr is a natural mechanism that promotes healing."

"If that's true then you must have the best medic-cat around because she's been by your side for days and that motor hasn't quit running yet. Maybe now your conscious, she can get back to work."

"Mmrroeww," the feline stepped onto Itachi's chest and jumped from there to Kisame's shoulders.

"Otsukaresama deshita, kitten," Kisame rubbed her ears a bit, "but I believe your work's not done here yet."

"Mreow," the cat jammed her nose into the Mist ninja's chin before she jumped down from his shoulder and strode purposefully from the room.

Kisame looked at the Uchiha, raised an eyebrow and then handed a glass of water to the man as he slowly sat up in the bed, "Looks like you're out of the woods according to the little doctor there. What are you going to do about Sasuke-kun?"

"Next time I meet my foolish little brother, he won't have Orochimaru's taint for a weapon. He has finally learned there are no tricks on the path to real power. When he's forced to use his own strength to destroy me, I don't know that we'll be so lucky."

Sakura paused. She had been cleaning her whiskers outside Itachi's room in case anyone came out and saw her listening. 'Sasuke's lost the curse mark? Could it be that Itachi succeeded where the rest of Konoha failed to break the hold that snake held over Sasuke-kun?' There was only one way to get answers out of Itachi. She had to capture and bring him back to Konoha, soon.

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Things you probably already know:

Nishikigoi-beautiful, colorful koi. Koi are carp. There are over 100 different variations of koi. They are a symbol of perseverance in adversity and strength of purpose. The average lifespan of koi is 60-80 years and some can live to be 200 years old, no shit, it's true. They were bred from common carp for their colors, first in China and later in Japan, and now all over the world. There is even a legend about the nine warrior koi. There's that number again, eheh.

When the brave koi jumped the Dragons Gate they were turned into dragons. Not all of them, oh no. Now, you should look that legend up yourself because there's more to it than that and it's cool, there's a princess, and there was even a koi named Naruhito in the story, haha, yep. There's too much to mention, if you find the time you should check it out. Just search-dragon koi nine meaning-. I like doing research for my stories, it's fascinating. It's a legend about finding inner strength and fulfilling your destiny. That's something Sakura is trying to do.

Yoshi-means Yes! or Alright!

Sukoshi means little bit, little one. (Remember from way back in the beginning, like chapter 2 when Itachi called the cat.)

A/N-I have pictures I made for my story Cat-o-Nine Tails. The link is on my profile page. Yeah, I don't have enough to do right? My fav, and (I think) the coolest is the one in the top/middle with Sakura and you know who. How did I do that? Haha. Anyway, that's how I envision Sakura as a cat. I'll put up more as more…appear. Check em out.

After you review of course, I want to know what you think! Please review, it inspires me. (Here's a little hint for all you wonderful reviewers, next chapter-SakxHid.)

K&K


	8. Chapter 8 Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty

I do not own Naruto

R&R

Thanks to Sakura's Indecision for editing this for me. You rock! K&K

Cat-O-Nine Tails

Chapter Break 8-Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty

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_When a weasel and a cat kiss, the future is not very bright_. - Author unknown

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'Where the hell is that cat?'

She was hiding again.

Hidan was bound and determined to find her this time.

Kisame had been protecting her the last few days but he finally left earlier this afternoon to do some training. He must be thoroughly sick of playing nursemaid to the ailing Uchiha.

He knew that stupid cat was around here somewhere.

Hidan took sadistic pleasure in tormenting the white rat.

Kakuzu told him not to kill it, but he never said he couldn't torture it and, if it happened to die, well...

Shit happens, right?

She'd been killing the vermin in everyone's room except his. What did she have against him anyways? Just because he tried to kill her a few times was no reason to hold a grudge.

The feline left to go outside hours ago. She had to come back sooner or later, especially if she was hungry.

He made a rice omelet and set it out on the windowsill where she had habitually made her entrance.

Then he sat, out of sight, and waited.

It wasn't long, maybe twenty minutes, when the little, white rat came up to the sill with a trilling meow.

She looked to see if anyone was around. There was only some half eaten food, seemingly left for her where she had been eating occasionally when the nin fed her scraps.

'She's a suspicious one, that stupid cat,' Hidan thought.

She thoroughly sniffed the plate and its contents as if they might be poisoned. Hidan almost laughed out loud. 'Poison might be a good way to get rid of the cat after all,' he thought, then he could blame that idiot Tobi, but first she was going to do some work for him.

Stupid cat had refused to mouse for him; wouldn't even enter his fucking room, the little shit.

Well, all that was going to end today.

The cat, having finally decided it was safe to eat the food, settled down to enjoy its meal, purring heavily.

Hidan snuck up on it like death itself. He took out the long spike he used to impale his victims.

He leaped forward just as the cat raised her head.

"Gotcha, pussy!" he yelled and stabbed his pike forward, impaling her ear and slamming the spike into the window casing trapping her.

"RRRAARW" the cat screamed in panicked pain as she tried to push the spike away from her head.

Her ear was shrieking in pain; warm blood was leaking down the side if her head. It burned and she couldn't get away from the crazy bastard who had her nailed against the window pane. She ended up on top of the plate, spilling the food as she struggled uselessly to free herself.

"Sit still, stupid cat," he reached for her, still holding her against the wall. "If you bite me, I will kill you for real."

He grabbed her around the throat and, finally, pulled the pike from her ear. She was shaking from the shock of what he had done to her. She wanted to throw up.

He picked her up and carried her back into his room, not caring when she bled all over his hand. He closed the door behind him.

He set her down on the floor and she backed up against the wall. With fur riding high and tailed bushed, she hissed at him.

"Listen up, cat. You don't like me and I don't like you. But you are gonna find those fucking mice for me or I am going to kill you right now."

Ears laid back flat to her head, Sakura glared at him for a minute as if considering his words. Then she rose a bit shakily and started to walk around the room, sniffing delicately here and there. Never once did she take her eyes off him.

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'What a pain in the ass,' she thought angrily, trying to smell where the mice were hidden in the creepy bastard's room. Mostly all she could smell was the iron-like tang of her bloody ear. Which was also ringing, thank you very much, from the _thunk_ of that pike sounding so loud as it pierced her appendage and the windowpane.

The crazy death ninja sat on the floor where he had some strange runes drawn in dark red. To Sakura, it almost looked like dried blood. He lay back and he appeared to be praying or talking to himself. After which, he took the same pike he had stabbed her with and, as her eyes widened in disbelief, he stabbed himself with it.

'Completely insane. No doubt about it,' she thought. 'That must be real blood on the floor and not just red paint.' She couldn't tell because her own bloody smell was impeding her senses.

He was still praying and cursing and maybe even groaning in pleasure when she heard the first _scritch_ of a claw scratching on the floor.

She sat, still as stone, waiting to see if the little creature would reveal its hiding place.

She didn't want to catch this one. She wanted to see where it was coming from or going to; she wanted to find its nest.

Now the nutty nin was well into the throes of his dark religion. He got louder and even more violent with himself, cursing and stabbing his own body with more weapons. Sakura shook her head. The masked accountant had been right to warn her to stay far from the lunatic.

Then, another strange thing happened; the mice seemed to know this was a safe time to come out. The hurried scratch of claws sounded as they scurried out of their safe houses and ran around, searching for sustenance.

Sakura sat and watched as, what had to be the most mice she had seen in one place, came pouring out of a small crack in the wall back under the man's bed.

'Mitsuketa yo!'

The cat revealed her presence and snapped four necks quicker than the mice could react. She grabbed another one and it squealed in fear and warning before she pushed the air from its lungs and broke its back. By then, the mice were scrambling back into their home where she could not follow.

The skeletal-like nin was still undulating on the floor in ecstasy, so she jumped on his bed and waited for him to finish his weird rituals. She laid her head against the sheets and pressed her paw over her sticky ear to slow the bleeding. Disoriented, she closed her eyes, feeling a little woozy from blood loss.

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"Oi! Stupid cat."

Sakura slowly opened one eye.

Hidan poked her with his spike, "I thought I told you to kill the mice."

She opened the other green orb and shook her head to clear it. Flecks of blood sailed past her vision.

What was it she had been doing?

The searing pain of her ear reminded her.

'Oh, yeah,' she remembered.

Sakura jumped off the bed and ran under it. She picked up a carcass and brought it back, dropping it back to the man's feet.

"Mmrrow."

"That's it? One damn mouse?"

She ran back under and grabbed another bringing it back like some dim-witted game of fetch.

"So you caught, like, two mice? You suck, cat."

She hissed at him and ran back under the bed bringing back two more mice.

"Are they all under there?" He asked.

She growled at him, "Mmmaoww."

He pulled the bed back and away from the wall.

"So, where are they, cat?"

She clawed at the crack in the wall where the bulk of the mice had run to escape her.

"Meow."

"They are here? In this tiny hole?" he scoffed.

"Mrow."

He put his ear up to the wall listening for signs of life. What he heard was the rustling of many small feet. Maybe the stupid cat was right.

He took his scythe from its resting place in the closet and swung it sideways, like a hammer, at the wall. Sakura jumped out of the way as chunks of plaster fell from the huge hole. The drywall crumbled before them.

Mice were falling everywhere.

"Holy shit, cat," Hidan said in awe as a mass of bodies erupted from the wall.

Sakura sprang into action, scrambling to kill as many mice as she could before they escaped. She almost didn't hear the bastard as he spoke the katon jutsu.

She leapt out of the way. Her shredded ear and whiskers getting badly singed as the small fireball slammed into the wall. Dozens of rodents died instantly while many more escaped.

The crazy bastard was actually laughing.

The wall was on fire.

'Shit!'

The wall was on fire and she was locked in here! She started coughing as the acrid smoke filled her lungs.

She hurried to Hidan's door, scratching at it and jamming her paw under it to try to pull it open or get him to open it. The dumbass was just sitting back watching his impromptu barbeque burn. Smoke was quickly filling the room.

Some of the half dead, flaming mice were running around, causing other things to catch on fire.

There were footsteps coming down the hall. The cat jumped back just in time as the door opened and Kisame walked in.

"What the hell are you doing, asshole?"

Sakura sat coughing in the smoke. She collapsed on her side.

Someone released a suiton jutsu and there was a large hissing as the fire was put out, revealing a mess of burned mice and wall.

Hidan turned from his little escapade and looked at the half dead, burned and, now, slightly damp cat lying on the floor, trying to breathe. He kicked it lightly with his foot, knocking it a few inches, but it still lay quietly, unmoving.

"Thanks, stupid cat."

"Are you trying to burn down the base, dumbass?"

"There were hundreds of mice coming out. I had to do something."

The shark nin shook his head, "Somewhere there is a village that is being deprived of its idiot," Kisame intoned regretfully, eyes rolled towards the ceiling.

Sakura was picked up from where she lay wheezing weakly on the floor. Gentle hands tucked her under an arm and she was taken from the insane death nin's room. The other two Akatsuki members continued to argue with each other.

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She didn't really know who had her. At that moment, she didn't really care.

Anything was better than what she had just been through. She closed her eyes tiredly and let go as she was taken about. She was carried through another doorway and still a third before she was gently set down.

She opened her eyes to find none other than Uchiha Itachi had come to her rescue.

"Little one, I told you that you would regret coming to this place," He said tilting her chin up to examine her injuries. He noticed her pupils were large black beads; an indication of extreme pain in some animals. Her fur was singed to the skin in places and one ear lay in bloody tatters. She pulled back from his grasp and sneezed loudly from the tainted air still in her lungs. Then the small feline collapsed spiritless onto the countertop.

The smooth stone surface felt wonderfully cool against her burns.

Itachi turned on the faucet and plugged the sink. Retrieving a first aid kit from under the sink, he set it on the counter.

"First I'll have to clean you up, then I can check your wounds," he explained calmly. "You probably won't like it, but you're going to have to get wet."

He picked up the filthy, white cat and set her in the sink. Sakura pulled her front paw up and shook it in weak protest. The lukewarm water was up to her belly. Using his hands, he cupped the water over her, getting her soaked.

"Mreow," She cried once miserably yet stood immobile while he worked, cleaning the ash and blood off her. When he was finished, Itachi rinsed her off with fresh water and set her on a dry towel before rubbing her fur dry.

He examined the large hole torn in what was left of her ear. Sighing, he cleaned the wound with a bit of cotton and disinfectant.

"I'm not very talented at healing," he told her, "but if you sit still, I'll give it a try."

He took another dry towel and wrapped her in it. Then Itachi picked Sakura up, brought her into his bedroom, and sat on the bed with the feline in his lap. He held her head with one hand while the other held together her poor, aching, shredded ear.

Uchiha Itachi's chakra was unlike any she had experienced. Of course it was powerful; Sakura knew the prowess of the Uchiha bloodline from training with Sasuke on her team. But unlike Sasuke's chakra, which was domineering and forced, Itachi's hummed with confidence and something else…a surprising tranquility. Honestly, she had expected it to feel dark and sinister. She was genuinely surprised to find it just the opposite.

She felt her skin slowly knitting itself back together. While it was certainly nowhere near the healing she could do if she had her chakra, at least she would not be left with a huge hole in her ear. She purred at the fluid, warm sensation of his chakra, soon forgetting the trauma she had just been through. She was very happy Itachi was finally back home and well.

'Funny' she mused drowsily and delicately flicked her tail to the side, 'home.' This was by no means her home, but this supposedly 'evil' man made her feel the safety of home. 'This must be the bonding the nin-cats spoke of,' she reflected, letting her lids droop.

When his chakra stopped humming through her, Itachi still sat quietly rubbing her head. Sakura was so relaxed; she almost didn't realize it when he picked her up again to face him.

He looked at the mended wound with a critical eye.

"You're going to have a large scar there," he told her seriously, "I doubt any of the fur will grow back."

She just purred at him. He put her down on the floor and lay back on the bed. She immediately jumped back up and walked to where his head rested on the pillow.

"You should leave this place, little one."

"Mmrew."

She bumped his forehead with her own, nuzzling him and licked his nose.

"You're welcome," he smirked.

His eyes narrowed.

Sakura froze.

What was he looking at?

"Your…collar…" his voice sounded both suspicious and wondering as the words appeared to form before him.

'Itachi-san,' she concentrated breathlessly, large emerald eyes staring deep into his.

He spoke as if in a trance; his deep, soft-spoken tenor warming her spirit.

"Your soul is tied to my heart."

Sakura shivered this time as the bell tolled, not once as per usual, but three times signifying she had captured her mission's primary objective.

Itachi's clouded eyes became clear again. Up close, Sakura noticed slivers of warm copper and sepia in what she had previously believed were onyx colored eyes.

"This is really no place for a girl like you."

She purred louder and rubbed her head under his chin. Rolling on her back she flipped her tail into the air, playfully swatting at it with a paw to show him she was fine, without a care in the world.

He smiled softly.

'It must be nice,' Itachi thought, 'not to have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.'

He lay with hooded eyes watching the fair feline amuse herself with her tail until his lids became heavy and he drifted off to sleep.

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Sakura watched the careworn lines ease from his eyes as Itachi fell asleep next to her. She figured they were even now. She had saved his life and he had, in turn, saved hers. There was no telling how angry he might be a few days from now. It was sad really. The Itachi she had witnessed firsthand was neither evil nor bloodthirsty; he was mostly careworn and somber. Certainly he was very good at his profession, but he didn't seem to enjoy it like some of the others did. Funny, if she had only met him recently, she would have said he was the furthest thing from the description given in the bingo book. She was more curious than ever to find out what Tsunade and Neko-baa-chan and Itachi knew about the Uchiha massacre.

Sakura had suspected it for a while, but she was sure now.

Uchiha Itachi was very ill; quite possibly terminally.

The kunoichi was so in tune with him now that the spell was completed. It was amazing she hadn't seen it all before now. The med-nin laid her furry head on his neck as he slept and, once more, her medic abilities kicked in. She could hear the rasp in his breathing and feel his swollen lymph nodes. His pulse was a bit too high for someone at rest. She wondered what a full examination would produce. If this man were in her care, she would not let this go even one day. But even if she could use chakra right now, she wouldn't try to diagnose or heal Itachi because he would probably catch her. Once he was in Konoha though, she was going to figure it out. Until then, she would watch him closely for other symptoms.

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Tsunade sat up in her bed. The bell tolling on the collar told her that Sakura had just managed to finally take Itachi with the contract's spell. She lay back on her pillow sighing. "God, Sakura, if only the whole village could know what you are doing for their sake. If only Naruto could know, but then he would go crazy with worry. If only the Uchiha brat could know what you were doing to bring him back home, safe and sound."

If only he cared.

If only he could see how deep your love ran for him, the spoiled, selfish brat.

She hoped, when Sakura finished this mission, she could let said brat go. Then she could find someone who truly cared for her. The child needed someone to love, who loved her whole-heartedly in return.

Someone like her Dan.

Dan…she missed him. He would be proud she had come back to help their village. She had only done it for his sake, remembering the pride and love he felt for their village. She would have done anything for him. Anything. Just as her apprentice was now putting her own life on the line to bring home the man she loved. Maybe the foolish boy would see that someday.

The fifth Hokage felt so much pride. Her apprentice, the little medic-nin with the overly-large heart, was doing her damnedest to bring down the Akatsuki.

She laughed softly. Densetsu no Kamo's bad luck had run dry. Usually that meant something bad was going to happen.

"This time, Dan," she whispered softly, "things might just turn out all right."

She turned on her side, said a prayer for Sakura's safety, closed her eyes and went peacefully back to sleep.

Barely more than one week left until the second half of Neko-baa-chan's spell took full effect and Sakura would begin her journey home.

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Things you probably already know:

Mitsuketa yo-found you

Densetsu no Kamo's-The Legendary Sucker, is one of Tsunade's nicknames from her gambling days.

A/N-Hello again. Hmmm, Sakura's time's almost up. Guess who is next? Ahaha, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I had a lot of fun with this one. Please take a minute to let me know if you liked it or not, I'll try to make the next chapter extra long as a bonus. I am looking forward to seeing what you think of the Hidan and Sakura or the Itachi and Sakura moments and if you're still finding the story interesting.

Review please,

K&K


	9. Chapter Break 9Nobody Calls Me Weak

DNON

Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter Break 9-Nobody Calls Me Weak

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Thanks to Sakura's Indecision for helping me by Beta-ing. Yes, S.I., I went and added a little more detail. I just can't help myself. Warukatta, ne.

R&R

K&K

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Konohagakure Hokage's Tower:

"Baa-chan!"

The door burst open. The unfortunate clerk carrying the month's worth of reports Shizune had just forced Tsunade to sign slammed into the ball of orange and black rushing through. Arms, legs and papers flew as all semblance of the recently created order flew out the window.

"Naruto!" two irritated females shouted in unison while a flustered and red-faced clerk scrambled to collect reports, some still floating down to earth.

"Gomen na," Naruto bowed hastily to the clerk and started snatching papers out of the air, crumpling and tearing them.

"Please don't!" the clerk took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Uzumaki-san, please let me take care of this. You seem to have something important to discuss with Hokage-sama."

"Uh, yeah, you're right," Naruto handed her a fistful of mangled reports, "Thanks."

Cursing, the clerk turned and knelt to pick up what promised to be an afternoon and possibly night of tedious work organizing and filing the mess.

"Naruto, what do you want?" Shizune insisted quietly while she got out Tsunade's favorite sake. If she didn't have something to occupy her hands, chances were Tsunade would end up putting the boy in a hospital bed. And if that happened, Shizune knew she would be the one who had to take care of the knucklehead. Honestly, why didn't they teach a few manners at the academy? She was going to have to talk to Iruka about that.

"Sakura's missing!"

"Impossible," Tsunade gave Shizune a meaningful look and tilted her head towards the clerk. Shizune hurried over and took the clerk's arm.

"Hisho-san, I will collect the rest of these and bring them to your office. Why don't you get a cup of tea? I'm sure you're still a bit shaken up from running into Naruto-kun."

The clerk looked ready to cry, "Oh, arigato, Shizune-san! It has been sort of a tough morning and I haven't had time for lunch yet."

"By all means, go to lunch. The reports will be on your desk, in order, when you return."

The clerk nodded happily and Shizune showed her out, closing the door as they left.

"Explain," Tsunade took her first shot and poured herself another.

"Kakashi told me Sakura was going to Suna on a mission. So, when we finished ours, Shino, Kiba, and I stopped in Suna since it was only a half day out of the way.

Anyway, we got there and I went to see Gaara and he told me Sakura wasn't there. The last he heard from her was weeks ago about some cure for the poisoning of his brother. He's ready to send out search parties for her but I said I'd come back and check if she was in Konoha first. Her house is empty and Kakashi said he hasn't seen her. It's obvious she's been kidnapped or something!"

"Calm down, Naruto. Sakura's fine."

"Really? Where is she?"

"I sent her on a solo mission."

"To Suna? 'Cause she's not there-"

"No. That was her 'official' destination but she probably won't even go near there. She's on an important mission acquiring…specimens for me. Top secret."

"You mean medical specimens? For her lab work?"

"You could say that…I guess. It's really not something you need to know about."

"I'm going to be Hokage, too, you know."

"Not yet. First, you need to get stronger and create more diplomatic ties with our neighbors. In fact, I want you to start now. Go down to Wave and meet with Tazuna. He will know the new leaders of the village and can introduce you. I want you to find out what they have for trade and what they might want to trade with Fire. Also, check to see that their security is sound."

"But that's boring!"

"All part of the job…if you really want it, that is. You never know who you might meet up with on the way. You could run into Sasuke, so be prepared. Collect Team Gai to go with you," she swiftly began to write out a mission scroll, "On the way over, have Neji instruct you on proper protocol with dignitaries. I am sure you'll be in the best of hands with the Hyuga boy."

"What about Sakura?"

"I'll contact Gaara. Sakura will be back before you. I want you back here in two weeks with lots of notes on trade and a summary of your talks with the new leaders. Now head out and tell Aburame and Inuzuka that Sakura's ok, but don't reveal her mission."

"Baa-chan," Naruto whined.

"Did I mention this is this is B-rank? If you want to stick around, I'm sure I can find a few C or D-rank missions for you instead."

"No, no. I'll take it," he sighed, "As long as you are sure Sakura's ok. I just have this feeling she's in danger."

"Sakura can take care of herself, Naruto. If she hears you worrying over her, what do you think she'll do?"

Naruto rubbed his head. He could already feel the ghost of the lump she would put there, "You're right, Baa-chan. Sakura's strong. I'll do my best in Wave."

"Just don't make any promises without discussing matters with me first. I'm counting on you Naruto."

The orange clad man-child skipped out of her office. Tsunade slumped into her chair picking up the bottle and taking a pull straight out of the neck, "Shizune!"

The dark-haired assistant stuck her head around the corner, "All clear?"

"Take Team Gai off the roster. They are going on a B-rank diplomatic mission to Wave."

"Wave?"

"With Uzumaki."

"Oh! That was fast thinking. Good idea, Hokage-sama."

"I hope so," Tsunade turned her chair to look out the window at her ancestors on Hokage Mountain, "I hope Naruto's feelings about Sakura are wrong, too. Only a few days left before Sakura's change back." Tsunade couldn't shake the feeling she was in trouble, too. "Hang in there, Sakura-chan," she softly fingered the collar at her neck, trying not to regret sending her daughter into so much danger.

"Neko-baa-chan, send her some luck."

She decided to take the rest of today off and get good and drunk.

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Grass

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When Itachi woke the next morning he knew, even before he opened his eyes, that she was watching him. This odd, little feline appeared to be concerned with him. Not only had she stayed by his side when he was at death's door, now she seemed reluctant to leave him.

She could be frightened to leave because of Hidan's antics with her the day before, but he felt she had already let that go. Perhaps she was grateful because he eased her pain. Maybe she knew instinctively there was something wrong with him; thus, all the mothering.

Mothers. His mother told him once that when you save a life, you were responsible for that person forever. Did that extend to animals? He wondered. It would have been better if he had taken the time the first day to find the cat's owner or never let it get close to the base. He had been a bit curious to see the feline who was so determined to follow them home then practically demand they take her in. It was really quite interesting to watch her bully a bunch of criminals into taking care of her. Not that they did a particularly good job of it. She was using up her nine lives at a pretty good clip.

He opened an eye. The sun had yet to rise fully, but he could see well enough in the dim light. There sat the cat, front legs tucked under her, lustrous, green eyes watching him intently as if she half-expected him to disappear at any moment.

"Sukoshi, if anyone needs watching over, it's you," he told her in a slightly gravelly voice. He cleared his throat, thinking he was probably past due to take his medication.

"Mreaw," she seemed eager to chastise him.

He lifted an eyebrow at her backtalk but the cat ignored him. She rose, stretched and stepped delicately around his body to the end of the bed before looking back, tail high in the air, waiting for him to join her.

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Proverb-_A good cat deserves a good rat.-unknown_

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"Man, it smells like a Mongolian barbeque gone wrong in the hallway," Kisame made a face as he came into the kitchen, "You gonna clean that up?"

"I left the window open to air it out," Hidan waved a hand back towards the hall, "The smell will fade."

"The hell it will. You have to get all the carcasses out first and the burned pieces of wall."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll get to it later. I need to pray before Kakuzu and I train."

The silver-haired nin got up and threw his dishes in the sink.

"Clean 'em yourself. There's no maid service here."

"Yeah, I'm busy, asshole. I'll do it in a while. They need to soak anyway."

"How can they soak with no water on them?" Kisame asked, but the Yugakure nin had already gone into his room and shut the door.

"How can he stand the smell in there?"

Itachi shrugged and finished his tea. He turned to see if the cat had finished its meal but she was gone. Odd, she typically thanked them profusely for the meal. Perhaps she was too used to being fed and she felt it her right. She was getting a little too comfortable in the base. It only spelled disaster for her future.

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Sakura swiftly ran around the base, searching out Hidan's window. Thanks to the mice sacrificed there, she had information to how to bring the death nin down.

It was safe to come out while the bastard was praying.

She'd probably only get one chance at this. If he closed his window later, she would have no way to get inside his room while he said his daily devotions. He had inevitably put the final nail into his own his coffin with his careless fire jutsu.

'Fricken asshole,' she flicked her scarred pink ear in irritation, 'There's no way I'm leaving you here to hurt anyone else.' She sat quietly in the brush under the window and waited for the freak to start his ululations. The first meaty squelch followed by a pleasured groan found her up on his window sill. She swiftly jumped down onto his bed and then under it.

Hidan never gave any sign that he noticed her entry. He was going even deeper into his trance now. This was the point where the mice had become brave, scurrying across the room. Sakura took a deep breath and padded silently over to Hidan's prone form.

He appeared to have used all his visible weapons in stabbing himself. He was begging his god's forgiveness for not killing someone. He was such a weirdo. What kind of devil-god was Jashin anyhow to require such acts of sacrifice?

'Never mind,' her Inner voice spoke, 'Get down to the business at hand.'

The white cat carefully stepped over to the circle Hidan was lying in, avoiding the marks on the floor. She gracefully leapt on Hidan's chest, ready to leave at his slightest reaction. Seeing none, she crept up to his face, concentrating only on the man in front of her.

As she came nose to nose with the loudly cursing ninja, his lavender eyes opened and he blinked, surprised to see her there.

"Stupid cat, what the hell is on your neck?"

She held her breath, 'Hidan, Hidan, Hidan,' She steeled herself not to move away from his crystalline gaze.

The man's expression became slack. As his stunningly beautiful, lilac eyes glazed over, he read the spell which trapped him in the enchantment.

"Your soul belongs to my heart."

A knock sounded on Hidan's door.

The bell tolled. Sakura tensed as another unexpected thing happened.

A voice so evil sounding, so full of malevolence boomed in her and Hidan's heads.

"Who disturbs my worship?"

Faster than Sakura had ever run in her life, she was off Hidan, to the bed, and out the window.

Kakuzu, who had just opened Hidan's door to tell him to hurry it up, saw a flash of light at the window. He dismissed it as Hidan began cursing at him in a whiny voice.

"Kakuzu, now you've done it. Jashin-sama is pissed that you disturbed my prayers."

"Tell Jashin to shove it unless he's paying the bills. Now get this stinking dump cleaned up so we can leave. That's all I need in here is you attracting more animals with the smell of rotten, cooked meat."

"Kakuzu, you're so fucking cruel!" Hidan yelled at the closed door, "I'm your partner. Show a little love."

0o0o0

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Sakura slunk away from Hidan's window. 'That was too close!' her Inner raged at her, 'What if Kakuzu had opened that door why Hidan was reciting the spell?'

Sakura didn't have an answer for herself. It was her mission to capture as many Akatsuki as possible and that was what she had done. There were more she knew but they had not come to this base yet. Hell she didn't even know if Deidara and Tobi would return before her time was up. There was a chance they had already been captured or killed in Konoha while looking for her. And to believe that Sasori was alive somewhere was a bit too much for her to wrap her brain around. She had seen the man, or puppet he had become, die. His heart impaled on the blades held by his parent's effigies.

'Well, look at it this way,' she kidded her Inner, 'If I had been in Konoha I would probably have been captured and killed by Deidara and Tobi anyways. At least here I am returning the favor. If I die they will become harmless in the shinobi world.'

'I'm not ready to die for some stupid _noble_ cause,' Inner Sakura scoffed, 'Sasuke isn't the only handsome man in the world. Let him waste his life chasing a revenge he'll never get. What has he done for us? We could find someone else. Someone who doesn't think we're _weak and useless_._'_

Sakura sighed. It wasn't enough she had to deal with attack from other shinobi, even her own mind was giving her a hard time.

'You know, you can't chose who you fall in love with.'

'Ugh, I know. I'm just trying to survive here. Your morbid thoughts of sacrificing yourself for the good of the village are very off-putting.'

'I guess you are right. We've captured a number of the enemy and I have some information about at least one more. Let's not forget the extra Uchiha, anyone failed to mention. We could just lay low until the spells take effect. I wonder what it will be like dragging six angry, stubborn cats back. Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, Tobi, Kakuzu and now Hidan. I can't imagine they'll make life easy on me. '

'At least we'll have a life.'

The little cat looked back towards Hidan's window from the relative safety of the brush. Maybe she would be wise steer clear of the base during daytime for the rest of her stay here. Who could blame her?

She wandered off to find something to amuse herself for the rest of the day. It was best to come back at dinner time and sleep in Itachi's or Kisame's room, they would be less suspicious of her then. Those two ninja seemed the least likely to accidently kill her and it simply wasn't safe for a housecat to sleep in the forest.

0o0o0

Proverb-_Can ye judge a man, by his looking? A cat may look at a king, ye know!_-John Heywood-1562

Proverb-_Tis very true, kings do not call cats into account for their undistinguishing boldness…til at length they scratch the hand that strokes them and mob their protector._ – Oswald Dykes-1713

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Sakura's plan seemed to be working well. She had come back to the base at the end of the meal last night to find a plate left on the window for her. She ate quickly and found her way to Itachi's door before he closed it. He ignored her as he set about cleaning his katana and after that went to bed. He rose early and started reading a scroll at his desk, so Sakura decided to go back to sleep.

Sakura was dozing when someone knocked on Itachi's door.

"Itachi-san," the voice spoke rather loudly on the other side, "May I come in?"

Sakura knew that voice. In the blink of an eye, she was off Itachi's pillow and diving under the blankets on his bed.

Itachi's eyebrow rose, but he remained silent about the cat's strange antics.

"You may enter."

"Itachi-san, have you seen the kitty?"

Uchiha's eyes narrowed slightly at the orange-masked nin and answered the question with one of his own, "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no! I just wanted to see the kitty. Kisame-san said she might be with you. Since Hidan didn't really kill her, I want to show Sasori-san just how _clever_ she really is."

Itachi noticed the slight tightening of Tobi's fist on the door knob.

"Is that all?"

"Yes, Itachi-san. Sorry to disturb you," the man closed the door and Itachi turned to the lump under the rumpled blankets on his bed.

"It appears that you've worn out your welcome."

Sakura popped her head out from under the blanket warily and shook it, unsure of whether to remain hidden in case the more unpredictable Uchiha came back uninvited. She looked at Itachi with knowing eyes.

"Time for you to leave, little one."

"Maow," she agreed quietly.

Itachi moved to open his window.

"Come on. Out you go," he ordered.

The feline sat on his bed looking sadly at him.

"That's not going to work. Come on."

Sakura jumped to the window sill, turning back hopefully to him.

"I will bring you breakfast outside if you're hungry, but for now…out."

"Mmreorw," the white cat jumped out the window and stalked off into the bushes to wait for her promised breakfast.

Itachi went to the kitchen to have breakfast before going out to train with his partner.

They left the base and Itachi turned south towards the nearest village.

"Hey, I thought we were going to train?"

"We need to stop at the village first."

They hadn't got 100 feet from the base when their stalker caught up with them, leaping gracefully from a nearby tree onto Itachi's lean shoulders.

"Hey, kitten, that's pretty brave. Not even the strongest shinobi try to ambush the Uchiha."

"Meow," Sakura demanded her breakfast. Itachi pulled out the napkin-covered fish from his pocket and gave her a piece.

"You're carrying food for it now?" Kisame asked incredulously, "And you said not to become attached."

"We are taking it back to the village. It's not safe here anymore."

"Well, Hidan did almost roast it, but it's safe enough. After all, that cat's smarter than him."

"It's not just him anymore. Tobi carries a grudge against it. He is actively seeking it. Hidan was never serious, just careless and stupid."

"Tobi, too, eh? Well, either way, she's done well. She deserves a better home and would have died within the organization sooner or later."

"I agree. We will inquire at the dango shop."

"Dango, of course. That's where we found her. I wonder if anyone has come looking for her yet. She's intelligent and seems well cared for. She certainly took care of the rat problem at the base. Someone will want her."

"Mmmreow," stretched across the Uchiha's shoulders, Sakura demanded more fish from Itachi. She swatted her paw at the hand that held the napkin full of fried fish.

"Ah ha, that kitten sure has guts. I don't think I've ever seen you let someone push you around like that."

"Hn."

"Well, at least I'll miss you, kitten."

They travelled in silence for miles. At first the day was calm. Birds sang, cheerily greeting the new day. Later, they crossed a large field and, away in the distance, saw clouds of white, pink, sickly yellow, and ash grey which rose from the ground in the shape of a mountain head; a chill wind gusted and the tall grass shivered. The birds had gone silent. All signs foretelling of a storm on its way.

As their path wound its way back into the trees the vegetation threw mottled shadows on their faces. Kisame broke the reverie.

"Kakuzu told me Pein and the others are coming by next week."

Sakura's ears twitched at the familiar name and she stopped purring. This did not go unnoticed by Itachi. He watched her carefully as he spoke.

"Yes, it's time to take another biju."

Sakura saw it, the tiniest glance her way when Itachi spoke.

'Shit! He saw us react to those names.'

'We are screwed if we don't do something!' her Inner wailed.

'Think.'

'Think.'

'Think!'

Itachi started to slow his step.

Sakura saw the brush just ahead, 'Well, here goes nothing.'

She bunched her shoulders and leapt from her 'Akatsuki platform' straight into the brush.

Itachi tensed, ready to give chase if his suspicion proved true.

Kisame froze seeing the Uchiha's cautious stance, "What's wrong?"

Sakura ran under the brush, 'Please, please, please, please!' she prayed, 'There!' A swift movement to her right and she was off, chasing her prey out of the bushes, back towards the two nin.

The rabbit sprinted across the path and a flash of silver caught Sakura's eye, forcing her to skid to a stop.

Kisame bent down to retrieve his kunai, picking up the dead hare. "Good job, kitten."

Sakura watched her catch disappear into one of his robe's hidden pockets before she turned to see if Itachi bought her ruse.

"Come, little one," Itachi continued on.

The little feline jumped back to her perch on his shoulders and, purring, nudged his ear with her nose and forehead before investigating to see if he had any fish left.

Sakura's heart was racing. If there had been no prey in the brush, she was sure that kunai would have been meant for her.

If she made another mistake like that, she was going to be dead.

0o0o0o

Entering the village, they went to the dango shop and ordered before sitting at the table. Sakura followed them in and climbed into Itachi's lap.

The owner came over to the table.

"Forgive me, good sirs, but I must ask you to take your pet outside."

"She's not our pet. We've come back to see if you had any inquiries as to her owner." Itachi's hand covered her back and absently scratched behind her ears. It felt so good, she instinctively flexed her claws in pleasure, digging into his leg, not quite breaking the skin.

"No sir. I'm sorry. She's quite unusual, too, and I can tell she's become quite attached to you. Are you sure you cannot take her home?"

"We have to many rabid dogs who would like to kill her," Kisame interrupted, "It's better if we find a place for her here. Do you know of anyone who will take her in? She's an excellent mouser."

"There's Yuki-san down the lane. She has a general store and having a cat keep the mice out could be helpful."

"Thank you," Itachi picked up the cat and they exited the dango hut. The owner followed them out and pointed out Yuki's store.

0o0o0

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Sakura could hardly believe it. He had unceremoniously dumped her off on some shopkeeper after all her work and left without even a good-bye. That bastard also asked Yuki-san to lock her up for a few days to keep her from following them back. Now she sat, hours later, locked up in a bamboo cage in the corner of the general store.

'Huh!' her Inner scoffed, 'serves them right if we don't go back.'

'If we don't go back when the change comes, they will be cursed to remain cats forever. The base is further than ten miles from here I'm almost sure and Neko-baa-chan said the spell may become unstable near the end of the month. What will Sasuke say if I hand him a cat and tell him it's Itachi? He'll kill me instead.'

The bell over the shop's door tinkled as a group of teens came in.

"Konbanwa. What can I help you boys with today?"

"Yuki-san," the largest of the three young men spoke, "have the new kunai I ordered come in yet?"

"Sorry, no, Bunte-kun. They'll be here by Friday I'm sure."

"Did you get a new cat?" the red-haired boy asked, poking his finger in Sakura's cage.

"Yes, some men came by looking for its owner and asked me to keep it here. Can I ask you boys a favor? I have to close soon. Can you watch the shop for a minute while I run this order down the street? Old Shunta-san will be upset if I don't deliver it to her in person."

"No problem, Yuki-san."

"I'll just be a minute. You can help yourself to the penny-candy as my thanks." Yuki-san hurried out.

"Hey," the eldest boy whispered when she had left, "let's get Yuki to give us this cat."

"For what?"

"They make great live targets for practice. They are fast and agile."

"Won't it just run away?" The youngest boy, Sho, asked.

"Naw, they are weak. You tie a rope around them so they can't go far."

"Yuki won't like that."

"We're not gonna tell her, idiot!"

"I got a better idea. Why don't we just say we opened the cage and it ran away?"

"Ok, grab it, Sho. We'll tell Yuki you ran after it. Hurry."

Sakura tried to get past him but the boy was too quick.

"Take off its collar so no one will think we're stealing it."

Sakura hissed. If she lost her collar she might never get home!

The little feline went ballistic when Sho tried to remove her collar; scratching and biting for all she was worth. Sho bawled and dropped her. She raced around the corner, knocking over stacked goods on her way to the exit. The boys made a last, mad dash for the open door but Sakura beat them to it, racing out into the rainy night.

Scared or not, she would no longer be called weak. Konoha, her Shisou, her team, she wouldn't let them down.

She was going back.

0o0o0

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Things you probably already know:

Warukatta-My bad.

A cat may look at a king-Most of you already figured this saying out, no? Well basically it means cats don't look at humans and automatically fear them or hold them in high esteem no matter who they are, be they kings or even incredibly strong ninja. Cats basically see you as below them or at best equal to themselves. Vain? Maybe. Confident? Yes, definitely. You have to earn a cat's respect and they are not afraid to scratch you if they think you are out of line.

And if they like you, they will let you feed, worship and adore them. Ahaha, just kidding.

A/N-Yoshi! As promised an extra long chapter-almost double! Tobi's back and he brought Sasori! Please take a minute to drop a review. It would really make me happy and when I'm happy I write more! Your reviews have been cool to read. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Please Review

K&K


	10. Chapter 10 Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

I do not own Naruto.

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WooHoo! Let's hear a big cheer for my Super-Beta-SI. Yea!

Sakura's Indecision, Hip-Hip-Hooray!

And…

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews so far. You reviewers are the best and your thoughtful reviews keep me writing.

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Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter Break 10-Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

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Proverb-Don't trust the weak appearance of the wolf or the disappearance of the cat: they'll both make a come-back.-author unknown.

Proverb-Kick the cat out, sure enough, she'll come back.-author unknown.

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Akatsuki Base in Grass

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Tobi was acting weird…again.

First, his little 'disappearance' when they were in Konoha searching for the Haruno kunoichi, then Tobi kept rushing them to get back to the base as soon as possible. He had even suggested they _not_ pick up Sasori-danna from Konan.

The orange-masked freak had lost a few more of his marbles, as far as Deidara was concerned. Tobi was obsessed with seeing that cat. Hidan had told them before they left that the cat was dead, but now Deidara knew the bastard had been lying. Personally, he liked the cat and, next time he had Hidan alone, he was gonna blow his stupid ass up for hurting it.

Kisame had related the event of Hidan's 'pyrotechnics.' It was a good thing the idiot had others around to cover for his stupidity. If the fire had reached Deidara's room the entire base would have become a colossal piece of art. Plus it was dry enough in Grass right now that a good sized fire, if left out of control, might burn down a few villages. Then Pein might have made them move back to Rain, and it was miserable there. Or Sand, where it was hot as hell, and everyone knew his face. Besides, both places wreaked havoc with his clay.

"Tobi," Deidara's deep baritone admonished the masked nin outside Itachi's door, "go make some breakfast, yeah. Danna has had a long trip and needs food and rest. Play with the cat later, un."

"Hai, Deidara-senpai!" Tobi skipped off to the kitchen.

0o0o0

'Oh, I'll play with the kitty later, all right.' Tobi thought angrily, going to the kitchen to make some onigiri. Tobi discovered a few interesting things on his trip to Konoha. Not the least of which was that the old witch, Neko-san, had been through there recently, and he knew for a fact that bitch was a good family friend of Hashirama Senju, Konoha's first Hokage and grandfather to Tsunade, the current Hokage. He also found out the Hokage's favorite green-eyed apprentice was on a mission and that nobody could quite say what that mission involved. The loud-mouthed kyuubi container had come bursting into Konoha blabbing about her being missing which had given Tobi the answers he sought without any effort on his part.

He molded the cooked rice much too hard, smashing it into texture-less lumps of poorly made umeboshi onigiri and wrapping it in nori. He'd find the kitty later, and then he was going to get some answers before he wrung her little neck. Maybe then he'd give the body to Sasori. Or, perhaps, she could be used in negotiations with Konoha when they took over. He was sure she was too loyal to use as a medic, but the kyuubi container might trade his life for hers. Either way, he wanted answers. Even if she couldn't speak human at the moment, he knew some mind-reading jutsu. He'd find out just what Neko-chan had done to him, reverse the curse, and then he was going to pay her a little visit, too. He couldn't have her meddling in his plans any longer. That old bag was gonna die.

0o0o0

Tobi went grudgingly with Deidara and Sasori after they choked down Tobi's lousy cooking. He had tried to stay at the base, but Deidara told him they needed to prepare for the taking of the biju next week, and Sasori-danna was not yet strong enough to take on the mission.

Sasori sat on the hill while they trained. What it amounted to, though, was Tobi running around screaming 'Senpai!' while Deidara threw bomb after bomb at him in irritation.

"Hn, concentrate, Tobi!" he snapped, "How are we gonna get that biju before Uchiha when you are goofing around all the time, un?"

"But, Senpai!" Tobi whined, "I wanted to play with the kitty today. It's gone and I couldn't find it anywhere!"

"Baka, un! It's probably outside somewhere," he pointed to the west, "Look at those storm clouds, un. I'm sure the cat will be back at the base by nightfall. It wouldn't be dumb enough to want to stay out in the rain, yeah. Now focus, yeah!"

Tobi clapped his hands, "You're right, Senpai!" For a second, there was a ruby-like gleam in his one visible eye as Tobi began to plan.

0o0o0

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English Proverb-In a cat's eyes, all things belong to cats.-Author unknown.

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'You and your _stupid,_ noble causes,' her Inner sneered while they trudged through yet another puddle of slimy mud. Just as Sakura left the village, she had run smack into a ferocious rainstorm.

'Shut up!' Sakura growled, 'You're the one who wanted to stay away from the base in the first place! This was just too far away.'

'Yeah,' she shrilled, 'because you had to climb on to your _precious_ Itachi-sama's shoulders!'

'He's not my precious anything! He's my captive, and I won't leave any of them here! They're mine!'

A strong gust of wind blew, knocking Sakura sideways off her feet and into the puddle she had just skirted. The feline shivered as the ice-cold dash of water pebbled her skin with goose bumps. Scrambling once more to her feet, the cat clambered out of the wet muck.

'So much for always landing on your feet,' Sakura's irritating Inner sighed, 'Well, I wish we had his strong, warm shoulders to ride on right now. Yuck! Now I know why cats hate water so much!'

For once, Sakura completely agreed with her. Just the thought of snuggling up to the Uchiha, Deidara or even Kisame right now sounded a little like heaven.

'Ugh,' she thought. Maybe she already had hypothermia. This squall must be warping her brain. 'If you don't want to be here, why don't you just go away?' Sakura asked.

'Are you kidding?' her Inner protested, 'You _need_ me to stay alert right now. We are in a forest, have no chakra, no weapons and, even without Akatsuki, we are helpless _prey_ here!'

'You think I don't know that? Why do you think we left the village in a storm in the first place? It was either that, or become a moving pincushion for those idiots!'

'Well, we're a couple of miles from the village by now. Let's find some shelter for the rest of the night.'

Sakura found a semi-dry and mostly hollow log just a little further on and crawled as far into it as she could. The first thing she noticed with relief was the wind no longer reached her. She shook herself and immediately began to clean her fur to remove water from it. It was the one chore she never wanted to get used to, but it came in handy now. Being soaked for so long had reduced her body temperature to a dangerous level and, if she couldn't get dry enough to warm up, she might never wake up when she went to sleep. She found two grubs, and managed to choke them down without gagging too much; vowing she'd make Itachi and Hidan eat a few sooner or later. By then, she was too tired to look for more sustenance and was really too disgusted to eat more. She exhaled noisily, and went to sleep.

0o0o0

Sakura awoke to complete darkness.

Even her superior eye sight failed to give her a clue as to where she was. She sniffed and smelled wet rot all around her. The clammy coldness felt like a grave. 'Where am I?' she wondered, trying to concentrate in the cool darkness. She listened, and heard…nothing.

Wait, not nothing. The small _crree_ of a cricket, the _neep_ of a tree frog, slowly the sounds of the night came to her. She was outside…well, sort of. She was _in_ something that was outside. She thought for a minute, and then remembered the storm. Her medical training kicked in, and she started to check off what injuries she might have that would put her in such a muddled state.

Her skin, no, fur, felt damp. She could smell no blood nor feel any serious injury. Dirty? Yes, but there were no open wounds. Her body was cool but, without chakra or hands, she was unable to measure her temperature properly. She concluded wasn't physically hurt, but she needed to move in order to warm herself up and also find food for energy. She could no longer remain in this spot. She stood and gingerly stretched her legs, working out the cramps from the cold. They burned with faint pins and needles from remaining immobile for so long in the cold. To her left, she could smell a faint whiff of fresh air. So, she started that way and discovered why it was so dark. The place she had chosen for shelter had collapsed in the storm. She shoved her way past a clutch of slick timber and found a hole barely big enough to squeeze her head through.

The late night air was calm and clement. The rain had stopped, but a soft breeze pushed a drop of water off the trees above and plopped it onto her nose, making her grimace at the unpleasant sensation.

She shook her head, and then tried to force the hole wider so she could get the rest of her body out. Her heart fluttered with anxiety for a few minutes while she found herself solidly trapped but, finally, the wood gave way with a deafening crack and she was free.

Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Sakura started running silently towards her destination. She could see well now by the faint light of the stars through the canopy and the sliver of moon now setting in the west. A few more days would find the new moon raised and, in about four days, the spell's magic would reverse and she would have to bring her captives back to Konoha without being noticed.

But first, she had to see if it was true. Had Sasori somehow survived the battle between them? She had to know. The puppet master had been truly a formidable enemy and she had to know if she failed to kill him.

She hurried toward her goal with new purpose.

0o0o0

0o0o0

It didn't take long before her sense of purpose began to flag.

There was still standing water in places so she wasn't thirsty, but she was starving.

In the damp early morning hours, the pickins seemed quite slim. The cool wet grass wasn't conducive to grasshopper hunting; it seemed they waited till the sun warmed the meadow. She spotted a few worms but, after the memories of the snap of the grub's skin followed by the pulp she had to choke down after, she decided it would be ok to be hungry a little longer. Crunchy bugs, yes. Soft bugs, not happening.

After the sun rose and dried the sodden earth a bit, the insect world came to life around her. Sakura happily crunched down on the first five grasshoppers she came across, thinking wryly of the chocolate covered ants Ino had once tried to get everyone to eat. Ants were crunchy, too; with chocolate they probably would have been quite tasty. Of course she would never tell Aburame Shino that. He wouldn't eat the ants either. His whole family was quite fond of bugs.

There was another thing that began to wear on her spirit; the length time it was taking her to get across the countryside. The first time, it had been quite challenging as she followed the Akatsuki team to their base. Now she found herself becoming bored and distracted quite easily.

A brightly colored bird flitted through the low brush ten feet to her left, and she immediately found herself veering off course to investigate the diversion.

If that wasn't enough, there were the butterflies everywhere. The warmth of the sun had lured them out to feed on the milkweed and other flora. The fluttering of their wings was captivating to her. The feline in her wanted to stop and play in the warm morning sun.

She heard more than saw the squirrels racing and being silly above her. They chattered at her with regularity, and once she came across one out in the open harvesting nuts. She chased him up into the nearest tree but only followed him a few feet up. She hadn't really tested her climbing skills with her claws, and a bad fall could end her mission.

Her Inner nagged her, and kept her on track for the most part, but she kept remembering the nin cats' words; cats live life on their own time and do as they please.

By noon, she came to a large field of grass and sulked a bit when she thought of just how much further she had left to go. She could barely see the tops of the trees far off in the distance. It was quite warm now, and she wilted when she thought of crossing the fields with no shade.

'Perhaps I should wait until nightfall to cross,' she pondered.

'Right,' he Inner agreed sardonically, 'and you won't stand out one bit in the dark to the predators with your white coat, crossing the grass with no trees to cover you. Let's make odds on whether you'll be eaten by the owls or the foxes first.'

She sniffed, 'Ok, I see your point, but what about hawks or eagles? Don't they hunt during the day?'

'Sure, but at least you can see them coming. How about a compromise? Let's get across quickly, and then take a long nap in the cool shade of the first, nice tree we find.'

Sakura saw the wisdom in that. Checking carefully for predators in the air, she darted out into the pasture. She moved quickly, using all her senses to keep alert and checking around her. She never slowed, yet it still took hours for her small legs to jog the length of the plain. She sighed in relief when the first small bushes began to dot her path.

There was a small rise at the edge of woods. At the bottom of the hill, a small brook bubbled clear and Sakura was so happy that she lapped up the water while standing in it to cool her feet. After she drank her fill, the cat climbed the hill and found a high patch of grass which she promptly trampled into a springy, soft bed. Once she lay down in the sweet, warm grass, she cleaned her paws and closed her eyes in contentment. She couldn't see beyond her bed, so she was confident no one could see her without being close. Hopefully, washing her feet in the stream rinsed her scent enough that nothing would track her trail up here. Ready or not, she was positive she wouldn't make it another foot without a catnap.

0o0o0

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Sakura's nose twitched.

A single, green orb cracked open. She inhaled deeply, not believing at first what she smelled.

Onigiri, umeboshi onigiri.

Her stomach clenched with hunger.

She peeked out between the weeds to see a man sitting on the lip of the hill eating onigiri.

He was an older man, perhaps Kakashi's or Genma's age. He wore dark gray nin pants and a white fitted shirt. His reddish hair blazed in the late afternoon sunlight. There were silver wings starting to gray at his temples. Sakura felt that he might be a ninja, but he wore no hitai-ate, and she felt no immediate threat from his aura.

"Hello there," he said without turning around, "What's a fancy, little thing like you doing way out here? Running away from home?" he snickered at his own joke.

She stepped out of her shaded nest, and into the warm radiance of the setting sun. There was no point in hiding, since he had already spotted her.

'Mraow,' she called shortly. She kept her distance, twitching her tail and checking around to see if they were alone. Sensing no one, she ventured a bit closer, curious as to why this person was out here in the middle of nowhere. This could be one of the as yet unseen Akatsuki she'd heard Kisame speak of, or just some villager travelling through. She needed to be extra cautious. She only had three spells left. Sakura didn't want to let any Akatsuki escape, but she also didn't want to capture any innocent victims.

He took a bite of his onigiri and grimaced, "I don't suppose you're hungry?"

"Mmrow."

He broke off a full half and placed it at the end of his reach, "Help yourself," he invited, "I just can't get used to eating this stuff easily, after so long."

Quick as a flash, she snagged the food and backed off a few feet to watch him while she ate. He nibbled his dinner and stared out at the field.

Sakura gobbled down the rather mushy rice wrapped in seaweed with a pickled plum at its center. No wonder he didn't care for it. If she wasn't starving and facing the prospect of more bugs, she might even turn her nose up at the offering. Someone had overcooked it to the point of turning it into paste. It was a quite salty, too.

Her hunger told her it was superb.

She began purring.

"Does that mean we're friends now?" the man chuckled darkly and finally turned to look her in the eye.

Those pretty fawn-colored eyes. Sakura was sure she'd seen them somewhere before.

But where?

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Things you probably already know:

Umeboshi onigiri-onigiri made with pickled plum.

A/N- Is that? Could it be? Hehe, I guess you'll have to wait and see! Will Sakura make it back? Who knows? Oh yeah, I do! Please take a minute and write me a review. I do so look forward to them and they make me want to write more stories!

Thanks!

K&K


	11. Chapter 11 The Artful Dodger

DNON

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A/N-In honor of hitting 300+ reviews I'm putting up this chapter a day early. I also am bummed. It's been raining all day and no new Naruto this week.

A big thanks to my beta extraordinaire, Sakura's Indecision, who puts up with me always adding more crap to the chapter every week, even after she checks it. It's a good thing she doesn't live to close to me or I might have to look over my shoulder for shoes being thrown at my head. Ahaha, I swear I only added extra in the A/N's this week( I think?), so any mistakes just ignore them-it's all me. (Ahaha, I might have to re-up this tomorrow if I made too many mistakes.)

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Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter Break 11-The Artful Dodger

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Proverb-"Curiosity killed the cat.

But, satisfaction brought it back." – Author unknown

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French Proverb -"Books and cats and fair-haired little girls make the best furnishing for a room" – Author unknown

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Grass-part 1

Curiosity killed the cat.

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Curious.

Sakura rubbed gently against the knee of the man who had shared his lunch with her. She was trying to remember exactly where she had seen this man before. Perhaps he had been a patient at Konoha Hospital. Or a visiting ally she had seen in the Hokage Tower. The graceful, feline tilt of his fawn colored eyes when he smiled like that; she felt she knew him, even his faint scent of cinnamon and linden wood, felt nostalgic.

He reached out a hand and she walked beneath it. Sakura let him run his fingers down her spine. The cat shivered, she couldn't quite place him. Then abruptly a sense of foreboding came over her.

"Hn, soft, silky, and warm from the sun," he hummed, "The last time I touched a cat was probably when I was a child. So many feelings lately…too many really. They make it hard to concentrate. Pain, fatigue, hunger, even solitude," his sigh carried the weight of a thousand regrets, "my existence was easier before, when everything was numb, a shell. My time was my own, and I didn't have to waste it _feeling_. Life was so much better when I could spend my time working, perfecting my art. Starting over in this body," his lip curled distastefully, "is _such_ a waste of my time."

'Art?'

He scooped her up into his lap and held her firmly, "But you would probably not agree with me, would you?" he asked the small white feline, "Your whole life is about leisure, is it not?" He stroked his thumb along her cheek, "Whereas, I don't like to wait and do not like to keep others waiting," his glance across the grassy land spread before them carried a hint of malice, "Perhaps you can lend me some of your patience."

The red hair, the impatience, his voice…she knew that voice. She quivered in his grasp and valiantly fought her instinct to bolt. The last time she heard his voice, his accent had less inflection; it was more impersonal, cold. And his eyes- the eyes she had stared into as he pushed the poisoned katana through her abdomen. The eyes she had later watched close in death.

'Masaka.' The puppet master was no longer made of wood. This was Akasuna no Sasori in the flesh.

Survival instinct won out and Sakura began to struggle in his hands as they tightened around her middle. He had not yet hurt her, but she worried as to what he had planned next. She kept her chin down, and hoped he would not notice the small charm under her collar with the kanji for "dawn" inscribed upon it; the one Kakuzu had "given" her.

"What? You want to leave so soon? Even after I shared my meal with you?" he sounded amused. "Are you suddenly frightened of me?" his whisper tickled her ear and made it twitch, "If you are, I would tell you…you are wise," he chuckled at his joke, "It's ok," he rubbed behind her ear, involuntarily making her relax a little, "I have no need to destroy so useful a creature; one so graceful and elegant. You are truly a work of art," he kept stroking her fur, "You know, cats are even favored by the gods and I'd be a fool to offend them, ne? The inscription on the Royal Tombs of Thebes says, 'Thou art the Great Cat, the avenger of the Gods, and the judge of words, and the president of the sovereign chiefs, and the governor of the holy Circle; thou art indeed…the Great Cat.' I, too, am an avenger, young cat. You are not so different from me. They say a cat has nine lives. Perhaps we can share our secrets. Would you like to live forever, too?"

"Mreow," she answered. She stopped struggling when he lessened his hold, but she couldn't quite get the urge to purr back again. His kind words left something to be desired…

'Like humanity,' her Inner shuddered.

"You know, your tiny heart is racing," he informed her, "There isn't much that makes my heart race anymore, what's left of it anyway. My most precious works of art have been destroyed. The only thing that makes my heart race lately is the thought of retribution," the hand petting her paused to squeeze, "How could such a little bit of nothing cause so much damage? Enough to take down a master. How did she succeed? I've had plenty of time to ponder. As luck would have it, I am sure it was because of my own flesh and blood.

"Sure, the child had knowledge of poisons, I'll give her that. She must have been trained well. I would have said fewer than three people in the world could have found a decent antidote so quickly. On top of that, her strength and skill at dodging was artful. But it was her trust that won the battle," he shook his head in disbelief. To put her trust in an old woman she barely knew, the child put her life in Baa-chan's hands and had complete faith in her ability.

"Now _that _is what I need. When I have her in my collection, I will once again become unstoppable. I no longer need a false, unfeeling body to display my art. Baa-chan and the girl have given me the inspiration for the ultimate puppet—a living, breathing extension of my will. She will be the first of many. With my new jutsu, she will be my ultimate art and I will bend and shape her to execute my every wish," he mused, rubbing behind her ears, "Perfectly preserved living art at the height of her power. Enduring and powerful against my enemies, yet soft and submissive to me. At my side, she will be the ultimate instrument of destruction; beautiful, ominous, and committed only to my desires."

Sakura thought she might be hyperventilating. She couldn't control the rapid beat of her heart and she felt as if she was suffocating. If this kept up, she would pass out soon. He might even scare her to death.

The man, no, this monster tilted her chin up as he spoke to her, "You know, you remind me of the girl," he said slowly, "You have the same lovely shade of green eyes. Would you like to be the first to try my new jutsu?"

Sakura felt the stirring of her enchantment and tried to quell her fear of his intimidation long enough to concentrate on him. This was the man she remembered from the cave. There were some fine lines from age on his face now, but his eyes were the same. Those eyes…they were cold, calculating, and cruel; those beautiful, fawn-colored eyes. The last rays of the setting sun caught in his eloquent eyes, making them translucent. Like a rare gem, his iris stratum shone with golden facets of amber, wheat, and fawn. Engrossed in the passion of his art, his madness was both daunting and compelling.

'Sasori,' she watched him unremittingly.

His voice caught and roughened as he recited the compulsory inscription she wore around her neck. It was as if his very essence rebelled at the declaration, "Your soul is tied to my heart."

Sakura thought her heart might burst. The bell on her collar pealed a single time. Dazed, he loosened his hold and she took the moment to escape. She scurried into the denser brush of the woods that lay behind him. Sakura didn't look back to see if he pursued her. For now, it was enough that she had ensnared him in the spell. She wanted nothing more than to put as much distance as possible between herself and the man who had given her so many nightmares, with the promise of many more to come.

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Konoha-Uchiha district

'Diversionary Tactics Division'

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Kakashi transported himself inside the walls of the Uchiha compound. The genjutsu traps were in place and unnoticeable to all but the most sensitive. From the outside, it appeared as if the Uchiha compound was untouched. Rundown buildings and streets unkempt with weeds choking the gutters. Some roofs had grown heavy with moss and a few had holes in them.

Of course they weren't as bad as all that, but the appearance of complete abandonment was important. Once the genjutsu was in full swing, they would tie it off, and even they would not be able to tell from the outside that there was life in the Uchiha compound.

Kakashi walked through the genjutsu, gently flaring his chakra to let the others know he had arrived. If he didn't, there would be hell to pay with some of the traps they were setting.

Scratch that.

The traps they were supposed to be setting.

"Hard at work, are we?" He asked the nin lying on the new roof of the hot spring baths.

Nara Shikamaru didn't even blink in reply to the masked jounin. He sat with his arms behind his head, gazing at the clouds. Kakashi walked over to the high window in the outbuilding. There sat Genma, soaking in the heat of the natural hot spring, sipping from a sake cup. A small bottle sat on a tray floating in the water.

"Working hard? Or hardly working?"

"Come on, Kakashi. Get off our backs. We're strategizing."

"Oh, really? And the job you were assigned to take care of?"

He motioned with his hand, waving it towards the cloth-covered doorway, "Sai is filling out all the scrolls around the property; his handwriting is much better than ours anyway. Shikamaru is coming up with a plan to keep people out, and I-"

"You are what?"

"Well, I am supervising, of course."

Kakashi chuckled, "Of course. Looks like you have your hands full," he indicated the nearly empty sake jug.

"I do. Go grab another bottle of sake out of the Uchiha's cellar and get in here and help me. Shikamaru!"

"Yeah," a lazy voice drawled above them.

"Get your ass in here and report your plan."

Kakashi went to change and retrieve the sake. He came back to find Shikamaru had joined them.

"So, you've come up with a plan to divert attention from disturbances in the Uchiha district?"

Shikamaru sighed, "I suppose."

"Well, what?"

"We need to go to the Council with a request."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Mice. The businesses around the Uchiha district have been complaining. We will request permission for the acquisition of something to relieve the problem."

"Mice? That's your big plan?"

"When creating a lie, it is best to follow the K.I.S.S. method."

"Eh?"

"_Keep it simple, stupid._ The best tactics are often the most innocent and useless-looking ones. Even Danzo will suspect nothing if a few cats are brought in to take care of things. The Council will want to keep local businesses happy and keep the district pest free in hopes that the Uchiha will come back and begin making little Sharingan wielders once more."

"Where are you going to get so many mice without someone finding out?"

"Sai is taking care of that as we speak. In two days, we'll go to the Council with the locals and make the request. They'll be more than happy to let Tsunade take care of it. They are much happier staying up in their Council rooms letting her handle menial tasks while they plot her demise," he spoke sarcastically, "They will probably act like they are doing her a favor. Of course, they will be; giving her control over this useless Uchiha compound," Shika stretched back and laid a folded towel over his eyes.

"Are people really going to be fooled by those little ink mice?" Kakashi asked.

"Sai won't let them get too close. They'll just recognize what they are and that there's an infestation coming from this quarter. It's common in dilapidated buildings."

"The Council wouldn't order them torn down?"

"Then they'd be forced to pay to replace them when Uchiha Sasuke comes back to stay," Shikamaru removed the towel from his face, and stared at the ceiling, "Believe me, they'll be thrilled at such an easy and inexpensive solution," Shikamaru assured him, "They will probably take credit for the whole idea and make the Uchiha pay for the whole operation on top of that," he changed the topic, already made apathetic by the subject of the meddlesome council, "You know, this place would be nicer if it had a sunroof."

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Grass part 2

Satisfaction brought her back

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"I see you've gone back to your old ways," the red-haired master spoke irritably to the nin landing behind him.

"Sumimasen, Sasori no danna," the Iwa-nin bowed low, "Tobi was fooling around, looking for something. I told him you did not like to be kept waiting. Next time, I will leave him behind."

The elder nin grunted his disapproval at the pair of Akatsuki. The sun had set and the stars had come out while he was waiting, trying to figure out what exactly he'd been doing earlier. Somehow, time had gotten fuzzy while he'd been meditating, "Well?"

"Well, what, Sasori-san?" Tobi asked.

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"No, Sasori-san. Sorry, it seems to be hiding from me."

"Perhaps, if you had been here on time, I could have helped you," the nin jumped nimbly onto the clay bird's back as they flew back to the base.

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Sakura ran as fast as her shaking legs would take her. She was terrified the puppet master had tied a chakra string to her and, until she had run for a long way, she felt at any moment he would pull the string taut and drag her back.

The puppet master was back.

And he wanted revenge-on _her_.

He smelled of linden wood because of his puppets. Cinnamon essential oils were used as a corrosion inhibitor; something that one who used corrosive poisons on weapons would find useful. She remembered finding it on his poisoned senbon. Cinnamon also happened to be a powerful remedy in the healing of chakra systems. Of course, his chakra paths would have been annihilated by his grandmother and her.

Yet, he had survived. Rather, his body had. What they had destroyed was a shell they believed possessed his heart and chakra system. But this man had been partnered with Orochimaru, the ultimate Sannin when it came to dealing with body experiments. He had also used Kabuto as a subordinate, who was an extremely talented medical ninja. What was to prevent them from keeping that relationship alive? Together they must have somehow preserved Sasori's real body and used some life-splitting jutsu to animate the puppets. She shivered. They were creepy as hell, those monsters. However they did it, she wasn't sure she even _wanted_ to know. Thank God Chiyo-baa-chan and she had been able to weaken and destroy one part of Sasori's plans anyhow. God, she hoped Sasuke hadn't learned stuff like that from the Snake-Sannin.

As dusk turned to dark, she plodded on, keeping an eye out for another hollow log or other opportune place to spend the night. As luck would have it, she spied a rabbit going into its warren for the night and she followed it in. Of course, the poor rabbit would be scared, but she couldn't feel too bad. She wasn't going to kill it, just share its home for the night. The animal, no bigger than herself, sat in the corner the whole night while she flopped, unceremoniously, onto the dry floor and fell asleep immediately. If she did have nine lives, these Akatsuki nin were stripping them away at lightning speed. She would probably have gray hair when she finally changed back, she sighed. But it would be worth it.

She would become nobody's puppet.

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Konoha-Hokage's office-_Happy Hour_

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Tsunade fingered the bell on her collar as she waited for the operative to show up. An untouched bottle of sake sat beside her on the desk.

A shadow passed by her window and Hatake Kakashi entered the room. For some reason, the man never used her door.

"Hokage-sama, you called for me?"

"How goes the arrangements for Sakura's welcome home party?"

Kakashi understood, there might be other ears around, "You know Naruto; he wants to have it Ichiraku's but the rest of us thought maybe Sakura would like that sushi joint better. It is healthier, but you know how stubborn he can be about his ramen."

Satisfied he had sufficiently bored anyone listening nearby, Kakashi secretly performed a simple jutsu that would muffle the conversation to anyone not standing within two feet of them before speaking again, "Ready and waiting. However, you may receive an odd request from the Coun-"

"Yes, about the mice? That was clever. Whose idea was it to find cats to set loose in the compound?"

"Nara."

"Of course," she nodded, "I'll have to get Sakura to pick up some up vermin control on her way home from Suna. I hear they have good mousers there." Even if it was safe to talk she wasn't about to take chances at this point. If anyone on the Council found out she was about to bring the enemy right into their camp, they might try to have her post as Hokage taken away. And if Akatsuki found out before it went down, she would have a war on her hands.

"Do you know how many we'll be accommodating yet?" the masked ninja questioned softly.

Tsunade brought her sake cup up to cover her lips, "Well, Hatake-san, you should be proud of our girl. She's going to bring home seven guests so far and she still has a few days and two openings left to make use of," she downed her drink.

"Seven!" Kakashi's eye lit with vanity "Sakura-chan always was my brightest student."

"_My_ brightest student. And I agree. That girl can accomplish anything she sets her mind to. I can't wait to see her again."

"My sentiments exactly, Tsunade-sama," the mask lifted in a warm smile that reached his eye.

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A/N-Things you probably already know:

The inscription on the Royal Tombs of Thebes says, 'Thou art the Great Cat, the avenger of the Gods, and the judge of words, and the president of the sovereign chiefs, and the governor of the holy Circle; thou art indeed…the Great Cat.'

This quote Sasori repeats is real. It refers to the Egyptian god Ra (sometimes called Osiris) and his daughter, the cat goddess Bastet-3000 BC and Sekhmet- the lion goddess.(there were others)- Ra was the sun god and other deities sprung from him but he took the form of a cat in a picture of a particular battle with Apep, the serpent of darkness, this is referred to as the eternal battle of day and night. This is recorded in the Egyptian Book of the Dead.

Egyptians worshiped cats and aside from Ra, their cat goddess's were women deities, some kind-Bastet, others vengeful-Sekhmet. The 'Sons of Ra' were of course, the pharaohs-manifested as Ra come to earth. Cats were credited with many things from health to the cycle of the solar month. They were treated with reverence and were considered little gods walking among men. They were buried with kings and their own treasures, wore jewels around their necks. You may have seen pictures of hammered gold in history books depicting humans with cats heads in scenes playing the parts of humans. Carvings of cats have been found in every medium, from clay and mud to gold, silver and every jewel and stone available to the Egyptians. It is kind of fascinating how the history of this people and the feline coincided and there are many more stories and legends to be found about cats. They worshipped cats for over 2000 years.

Now, I don't know how religious Sasori is (I picture him as a little creepy) but I felt he would have a bit of fascination with history and great everlasting art like the Egyptians made, so I tied a bit into my story. I always think the best stories have a little bit of truth in them, ne? Believe me when I tell you I am just scratching the surface here of this quote to use in my cat story. You can find out much, much more on the net or library if it interests you. History can be pretty awesome.

About 2/3 of you guessed my mystery man was Sasori. Good job! The other 1/3 guessed Tobi or didn't know. My clues might have been a bit too subtle, eheh.

Apparently some of you don't remember so I'll explain before I get angry reviews about his age. The young body of Sasori that Sakura and Chiyo fought last was actually a puppet. In reviews some of you mentioned him being young. Sorry, Sasori is a little older than Kakashi. He's about 35. Plenty old enough for a few light age lines and a bit of silver hair at the temples of his _human_ body. And honestly, when I went back to watch the _anime_ again to study his character, it didn't say exactly that what they destroyed was his heart but his chakra source. I'm splitting hairs? Maybe, but it's my story. Ne? Perhaps Sasori will explain my theory better later in the story. We'll have to wait and see.

Just _what_ could Tobi be looking for? (insert wicked laughter)

And who knew that Genma could be even lazier than Shikamaru? Lol. Genma is actually one of my favorite characters in the anime.

When I read your awesome reviews it makes me want to write more.

K&K


	12. 12 We are all Prey at the End of the Day

DNON

Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter break 12- We are all Prey at the End of the Day

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A/N-A big thank you goes to Sakura's Indecision for Beta-ing and story support. She's like Super-Girl and Wonder Woman rolled into one! Yep, yep!

A/N- I posted my ideas of pics of the first Akatsuki as a cat. It's added to my Sakura pics and can be seen with the link at the top of my profile page. Let me know if you've seen it. It will be updated along with the action in the story now. Go look, but don't forget to review at the end please.

- Warning, extreme language ahead!-

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Proverb-All cats look grey in the dark.

Proverb-There are many ways of skinning a cat.

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A/N-The _synodic period _ of the moon is exactly 29.5305882 days. It's the time required for the moon to move to the same position (same phase, as in new moon until new moon) _as seen by an observer on earth_. Now, _if _you were to view the moon cycling the earth from the viewpoint of the _stars_, the time required is only 27.3217 days, or, roughly two days less. This figure is called the _sidereal period_. The earth's orbital direction is such that it lengthens the period for earthbound observers.

Although the synodic and sidereal periods are exact numbers, the moon phase can't be precisely calculated by simple division of days because the moon's motion (orbital speed and position) is affected and perturbed by various forces of different strengths. Hence, complex equations are used to determine the exact position and phase of the moon at any given point in time each month.

A/N-You don't need to memorize this, it's not that important. _But_- This information will help you to understand (I hope) the reason behind the warning Neko-baa-chan gave Sakura about the spells changing effects towards the end of her time as a cat-one month. Her warning, if you remember, was about the enchantments becoming unstable with the phase of the new moon. Neko-baa-chan's enchantments relied heavily on the changing of the moon's phases.

On with the story.

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Sakura took a deep breath in the dim light and opened her eyes. Earth, the scent was all around her, reminding her that she spent the night in a rabbit's burrow. Safe for one night perhaps, but this might be an inopportune place to change back when the time came. If her chakra didn't work immediately, she might become trapped underground and suffocate. The feline yawned and stretched her limbs in the limited space before she noticed her host had left her to fend for herself. She couldn't blame the bunny. If she had to sleep with someone who might eat her, she would have attempted escape, too. She had a few close calls herself in the last few weeks.

Her tummy rumbled, reminding her that her last meal was yesterday afternoon. She was kind of amused by the way her cat body refused to let her forget about eating. She had gone whole days in the lab without even thinking about food. Her cat form demanded she try to get at least two meals a day, even if she had to eat something rather unpalatable.

She crouched down and crawled out of the tunnel of the rabbit's warren. The fresh breeze hit her nose carrying a dozen different scents. The strongest was blood. Sakura backed down into the hole and used all her senses to discover if danger was near.

Sakura sat silent and searching unsuccessfully for nearly half an hour before she moved again. Finally, when she felt it was safe she crept out of the hole and under the brush of the bush it was hidden in.

The source of the blood was her little bunny host. It lay dead only a few feet from the bush. Sakura kept her distance. Something was definitely wrong with this picture. If the rabbit had been killed by a predator, wouldn't it have been eaten? Also, it was unusually quiet for a forest at this hour. Sakura looked around her more carefully and found two more squirrels victimized; one hung limp by a kunai from a tree trunk.

Someone was hunting small animals. Sakura hurried back to the warren to wait a little longer and plan her next move.

'Hidan. It could be Hidan,' her Inner suggested.

'No, it's the unknown Uchiha, I'm almost sure.' He must be guessing there is a time limit on that spell. He is just killing everything in the hopes of hitting me, too. For all he knows, I could be a shape-shifter, right? Or maybe…he's just killing everything that moves.

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Konoha-Tsunade's house

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"Neko-san, how nice of you to come for a visit."

When they were alone Tsunade asked, "Is everything alright?"

"That's what I came to ask you, dear. How fares our little girl?"

"No news is good news, I guess. She continues to capture targets and that's all I can feel."

"Itachi?"

"Yes. She captured him a week ago and more besides. It's been nearly a month now. Is the spell still holding?"

"Well, it seems to be, but you never can tell when the new moon comes. It's more a case of wait and see. I'd like to see the facilities where you plan to keep these boys when she brings them back."

"Of course, Neko-chan. You can also meet some of the support team who will be working with Sakura and me. By the way, Neko-chan, have you heard anything more about the younger Uchiha?"

"Sorry, princess," she shook her head. "He could be anywhere by now. We only have a few more days, though, and Sakura will be coming home."

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Grass Country:

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Proverb-A cornered cat becomes as fierce as a lion.

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Kakuzu had enough of Hidan's incessant whining. His hands moved swiftly through hand signs and thousands of threads came flying from all over his body.

"Kakuz-" Hidan's body was slammed into the tree behind him as the Jiongu jutsu's fibers wrapped around him, lashing him to the thick trunk. By the time the fibers stopped moving, Hidan was covered head-to-toe with the mass of string.

"That ought to shut you up for a while," Kakuzu grumbled, walking back toward the base, "A few hours without your mouth is exactly what I need."

Sakura watched from across the clearing, hidden in the safety of a tree. For a while, Hidan struggled against the string, trying to loosen it enough to get free. Sakura was pretty sure if it had been anyone else, they would have suffocated by now. Apparently, the death nin could get by without oxygen. Of course, she snickered to herself, that was probably why he was so stupid; he deprived his brain of oxygen much too often.

Since she had another few hours before she would deem it safe to go back to the hideout, she lay on her branch and waited to see if he would get himself out or if Kakuzu would show mercy and come back to cut his partner down.

Neither happened.

She thought that perhaps Hidan had gone to sleep. The silver-haired nin had been still for over an hour before something curious happened. The string binding him began to jump and dip. It would bubble up, only to fall back flat. It looked more like there were a hundred mice wiggling in there than one single rat. All of a sudden, the string went slack…with the exception of the middle, where a new lump had formed. The lump was no longer man-sized, but cat-sized.

'Oh, shit!'

Sakura jumped up in surprise. It was too early! There was still three full days before the men should begin the change to cat form.

The newly formed silver cat was now struggling to escape the loosened strings. He almost got free when he fell, and the strings that were looped around his leg went taut, leaving him hanging upside down, and cursing. This violet-eyed cat was much larger than Sakura with a luxurious coat of short, fine, silver fur.

"Fucking Kakuzu! You think this is funny? I'll kill you! You bastard! I'll catch you in my Shiji Hyoketsu and I'll cut you slowly for a week until you die! Change me back, you fucker!"

The cursing cat continued to swing from the ropes for a while, screaming at the top of his lungs. Luckily, his voice was much less boisterous as a cat than it had been as a human or they would have heard him from a mile away. If another Akatsuki heard him speak, his voice would be a dead giveaway as to who he was. There was no mistaking that foulmouthed jerk even in a differently shaped body.

Sakura had to figure out what to do with him. Obviously, something was different about him which would cause him to change so soon. She didn't feel at all like her form was about to return to normal. She had to do something with this crazy man, er, cat or he was gonna blow her whole operation apart.

She jumped down from the tree.

"Who's there?" the silver cat spun, tangling himself further.

'Here goes nothing,' Sakura stepped out into the light in the center of the clearing.

"Wha- You! No! Are _you_ behind this?" he asked, incredulous violet eyes practically bulging from their sockets.

Sakura sat calmly and began cleaning her paw.

"Son of a mother-fucking bitch! It _was_ you, wasn't it?"

Sakura yawned and stood, turning her back to him, and walking off.

"Wait till Kakuzu hears this! I told him he should let me kill you. I won't miss this time, you furry bitch!"

The silver-gray cat thrashed about violently, finally getting free of the strings holding his leg. He fell, landing on his head.

"Fucker! That hurt! Oh, I'm gonna get you now, bitch!"

Hidan's effort to walk on four feet was laughable. Sakura had no trouble staying just ahead of him. She had one chance to get him out of the way until the new moon changed her and she was betting her life on it.

By the time they neared the base, Hidan had quieted down somewhat. He was having a hard time adjusting to the new body and he couldn't chase the white cat and swear at her at the same time without getting winded.

About thirty yards from the base, Sakura sat on the doors of the old cellar. They were built quite well, but there was still the hole in them she had found when she first came. She could only wait for Hidan now, and pray he didn't go to the base to report his condition first. She was betting he wanted to get her.

When he finally shot out of the brush, he almost took her by surprise. Apparently, he was getting the hang of his new body. She ducked his tackle and squeezed through the hole into the cellar, hoping he would follow.

Now, Sakura had been down here plenty of times and she knew her way around. She knew the back corner was the weakest section of the shelving. She also knew that the vermin had been chewing on this section and had, by now, chewed almost all the way through. Well…at least she hoped so.

She ran back into the corner, giving off what she hoped were frightened sounding little mews. She wanted him to attack her now. The back corner was full of mice. They scurried and scratched, squealing when she pushed her way in, adding to the confusion in the dim light.

"Got you now, you little bitch!" Hidan growled, leaping at the white cat that practically glowed in the dim light. Sakura moved at the last instant and Hidan fell into the vermin's nest of all the nasty things they had used to make their flea-ridden beds. He had not even gotten the mess off his face when he heard the ominous sound of wood cracking.

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When Sakura leaped out of Hidan's way, she put all her strength into hitting the rotted and chewed corner of the shelves which stored the heavy cans and what was left of the torn bags of grain. The decayed wood gave way with ease, dropping in a crescendo of falling wood, cans, and dust.

Sakura ran up the stairs and out the hole. There were a few rocks outside; she assumed they were to hold the door open in the wind. It took all her strength but she slowly rolled one over to the hole and, finally, into it.

It had been quiet when she started, but by the time she jammed it into the hole, she could hear Hidan moaning, coughing, and cursing. He called her and promised all sorts of vile and sadistic punishments when he caught her. He promised he wouldn't kill her, but torture her over and over till she was begging for death.

Sakura sat breathing hard for many minutes, hoping against hope Hidan wouldn't find a way out of there. Minutes passed, then hours. His curses and ranting reduced to growls and grumblings. Finally, when the sun was near setting and the death-nin had grown silent, she decided to leave him there and go back to the base. She half hoped he wasn't dead but couldn't be too sorry if that was the case. The death-nin was more than a handful to deal with under any circumstance. Right now, she had to know if anyone else had turned too soon.

She prayed not.

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When she entered the kitchen window, there was no one in the room. She swiftly jumped down and ran under the large living room couch to monitor what was going on.

The first one to come out was Kakuzu. No change there. He got a drink and then went to Deidara's room. Knocking on the door, he informed the blond man that they would be heading out as soon as Zetsu dropped by to give them their next target. He also told him Pein and Konan would be coming in a few days to help with the next biju sealing and that Pein wanted to see if Sasori was feeling up to missions again. Deidara assured him his danna was getting stronger everyday and would soon be back to his old self.

Kakuzu left, going back into his room. Deidara grudgingly tapped on Tobi's room telling him to remain on standby to go on a mission. Tobi's cheery reply had him grinding his teeth as he walked back to Sasori's room to check on him. Sakura couldn't hear what they said, but since the blonde man didn't come out screaming his danna had turned into a cat, she felt relatively safe.

Two more men and she would know for sure that Hidan's turning early had been a fluke. She just needed him to remain in his little hole a few more days, and then she would be in the clear. Once she was herself again, her strength would aid her. She had to prepare to try and trap these other Akatsuki if they showed too. Pein, Konan and Zetsu. She would have to chose if all three came to the base, she only had two spells left to ensnare the ninja.

It was very late that same night when Itachi and Kisame rolled into the base. All the others had turned off their lights hours ago and Sakura herself had fallen into a light doze under the couch.

The quiet click and _scree_ of the front door alerted her to the two men's arrival. They walked in looking worn, like they had been awake for quite some time and been working hard. They went into the kitchen and made some tea and sandwiches. They ate silently. Sakura stayed under the couch, just watching them. When they rose, she stealthily followed them down the hall and slipped into Itachi's room with him and scurried under his bed.

When he had showered and fallen, shirtless, into bed she jumped up next to him. He was already asleep but he showed no signs of changing his form that she could tell.

'It must just be Hidan,' she sighed, relaxing. Her shoulder ached from toppling those shelves atop the troublemaker. She watched Itachi sleep for a while, listening to his steady but slightly labored breaths. She thought he would probably forgive her for sneaking back from the village. He seemed not to dislike her and, for some reason, she felt safe with him like no other person she'd been in contact with in these last few weeks.

Maybe she was just homesick for a friendly face. It was hard to be alone out here. She curled up next to his shoulder and inhaled his fresh scent of soap mixed with the deeper, underlying scent of ash always beneath. Purring, she laid her cheek on his neck and let herself fall into a restful sleep. She was exhausted from staying outdoors and her little adventure with Hidan. Thank God she only a few days left.

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A/N-The moon reference at the beginning was just there to give you, the reader, an idea of why Sakura might have trouble with the plan not quite working out as neatly as she would like. Sakura _is_ something of a scientist but, unless she studied the moon and earth, like an astrophysicist, she wouldn't have normal access to that information about the moon. Although, it might have helped her prepare for what happened, and what about is to happen next.

I'd like to thank all of you who have reviewed. Many of your reviews are funny and inspiring and they are all appreciated.

Do you think Sakura will make it?

Will Hidan escape and rat her out?

Or maybe Tobi will find her first?

Please review

Thanks, K&K


	13. Ch 13The Wrong Side of the Bed

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A/N-I've been asked a few times about the length of this story. Now, while I can't give a specific number of chapters I will say I _think_ I am less than halfway done according with my outline but I'm not making any promises as to that. I have some of the story mapped out but individual confrontations, etc. are just a glimmer in my mind. It will end when it's time. But I will have some fun with the characters. The thing is, whenever I start to write, it just gets away from me and grows and grows. And for those of you complaining about short chapters, I believe I've said before a _normal _chapter would be about 2,500-3,000 words. The last one was 2,997. I will never be one of those ff writers to put out super long chapters. Even 5,000 are rare birds in my stories. Thanks.

Thanks for the excellent editing SI!

Warning: Hotness ahead!

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DNON

Cat o Nine Tails

Chapter Break 13-The Wrong Side of the Bed

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He felt…fuzzy.

Itachi slowly regained consciousness. That last mission had been tough and his body was feeling the consequences. It would probably be a good idea to take a break from training for the next few days if they were going to capture another Jinchuuriki soon.

He slowly stretched his fatigued muscles and was more than a little surprised to find another body in the bed beside him, a presence he had not even noticed in his sleep. That was undeniably a rarity for him.

Maybe he had gone drinking with Kisame last night because he didn't remember going home with someone. Surely Kisame would remember where they had met. The Mist nin drank quite often and it affected him little. Perhaps he'd placed the girl in his bed as a joke, or a message. He was probably laughing in his room right now. Kisame was forever going on about how Itachi was far too serious and needed to get laid more often.

She felt nice in his arms though. Perhaps this once, Hoshigaki was right…it wouldn't hurt to have a little enjoyment in his life. He stuck his nose into her soft, sweet-smelling hair. And the color was exotic—candy-colored pink right down to the roots. Amusing…he'd never had a woman with pink hair in his bed.

His arm slipped under her and pulled her into him, while the other slid down her thigh and around her bottom before slowly caressing up around and under her shirt. He gently tugged her bindings aside to slide his hand smoothly up over one perfectly peaked globe. His thumb brushed against the tip and the heretofore quiescent woman gasped softly, before moaning eagerly in her sleep and arching into his hand. Her reaction instantly sent heat to his loins.

Itachi smirked at her enthusiasm, quite nice…yes, but why were they still wearing clothes? Had they been so drunk that they never even got their clothes off? That, too, was unusual for him; with his condition, he rarely drank himself into oblivion.

His body was telling him that he was thinking way too hard. He should forget the why and give thanks for the gift that lay warm and willing before him. Pushing all thoughts away, he closed his eyes and nuzzled her hair aside to taste the warm skin on the nape of her neck. Her scent was intoxicating him.

His body stiffened in surprise the moment the woman in his arms spoke. What had she just called him?

0o0o0

Sakura was having a sweet dream. She was laying beside Sasuke, cuddling with him, his arms around her and his breath on the back of her neck sending chills down her spine. It felt like heaven after missing him for so long. Then he started getting frisky; hands roaming over her but she didn't stop him. She didn't want to. His lips were on her neck and she could feel the rasp of his unshaven chin and smell the familiar scent of forest and ash.

"Sasuke-kun," she sighed happily as he stroked her lovingly. She opened her eyes, fully expecting the dream to shimmer away.

It didn't.

Wait a second.

Where was she?

In a _very_ familiar room. One she had spent the last month coming in and out of.

'Shimatta!' She froze for just one second.

One second was all it took.

Itachi had her flipped and was straddling her, his large hand still splayed on her breast which was now heaving in fear.

"Who are you?" Wide, green, frightened eyes met his and lips that were parted in surprise remained silent.

"Why are you here?" His hand pressed down painfully as he leaned into her. His other hand, the one not crushing her breast, held a kunai to her neck.

His eyes revolved a menacing red. 'This can't be happening,' she panicked.

She shut her eyes quickly. She had to delay him, just a few more minutes. He hadn't changed form, but _she_ _had_ and now she was helpless. She could feel her chakra highways slowly but surely reforming the correct paths. She only needed to stall a few minutes then she would have her chakra-enhanced strength back.

"Please don't kill me!"

He chuckled darkly, "Why would I kill you? I took you to my bed, didn't I?" He slid the kunai down, slowly slicing open her top, leaving the loosened bindings beneath intact.

"S-s-stop!"

Curious, he paused his actions.

"Could you please take your h-hand off my b-b-breast?" Her eyes were closed tightly.

He smirked and squeezed his hand, groping her. She gasped. He leaned down and nipped at her collarbone and neck. His hot breath against her skin made her shiver.

"No."

She trembled at his refusal. He slipped the kunai in the gap between her breasts and slit her bindings neatly down the middle, exposing far more skin than Sakura ever had to a man.

0o0o0

The woman was breathing hard and, if she blushed any harder, Itachi thought she might just pass out. She made a very pretty picture. Tousled, candy-colored hair and pink-tipped, milk-white breasts heaving, but how in the world did she end up in this place? And what did his otooto have to do with it? Why had she called out his name? She _would_ give him the answers.

"Please, stop," she begged. Green eyes opened wide with alarm at his actions, forgetting the danger of the Sharingan.

"You come into _my_ bed, sleep in _my_ arms and _now_, you're acting shy?" He had noticed how fit and toned her body was. Also, she had a few faint scars like many ninja carried, especially the large one on her flat abdomen. "Come on, kunoichi. You're not fooling me."

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When Itachi's eyes suddenly narrowed, Sakura knew he was remembering something. She had to stall him before he realized she was his formerly furry companion.

"I-I m-mean," she stammered, trying to calm her voice, "wouldn't it be much nicer if I t-take a shower before we do anything?"

She had no idea how to act sexy, damn it! Where was her perverted Inner when she needed her? She picked a fine time to go AWOL! Sakura desperately tried to remember those stupid kunoichi seduction classes that Ino was so fond of, but her mind was drawing a blank. Itachi was giving her an odd look. She had to say something.

"Perhaps…you would like to j-join me in the shower?" she suggested, smiling nervously. 'Just a few minutes more,' she prayed.

His hand relaxed and she breathed a sigh of relief. The problem was, now that he had decided not to kill her, he was still looking at her like she was his prey.

The kunai disappeared and he smiled at her so charmingly, Sakura felt a bit weak from the handsome man's magnetism.

'Wait, hold on. He wouldn't really want me, right?' Sakura became alarmed as he lowered himself back onto his bed.

"Um, you seem tired, Uchiha-san. Maybe I should leave now so you can sleep…I should just, uh, go home."

He nudged her chin up and nuzzled her neck once more, completely ignoring her musings.

'Ugh,' she thought. 'If I could just get enough chakra for one punch!' The things Itachi was doing to her neck made her toes curl. 'My God, that tickles! What's taking so long?' She couldn't reach her chakra yet and his lips were trailing fire down her neck. 'No! Stop and think!' she ordered herself. She couldn't overpower him in a fight and, if he attacked her for real, she would lose in about two seconds. Not to mention the fact that his ministrations were starting to feel a little too…good. 'Oh God! What's his hand doing on my hip? I have to stop him.'

"Uchiha-san," she placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to dissuade him.

"Itachi."

"Um, Itachi-san? I really think," he sucked her neck, "ahh, I mean I _have_ to leave now. I've stayed too long. Someone will be expecting me so- _eep_!" She squeaked when he nipped the skin beneath her collarbone.

She tried to rise but his strong hand pushed her gently back down. His deep-red eyes were laden with sultry promise. It was that look-that so very heated, desirous look-that broke her will to deceive him.

"Uchiha-san," she begged; his lips were traveling southward at an alarming rate, "ah, no, Itachi-san, I c-can't do this. You've got the wrong idea about me."

"You came to my bed," his warm mouth murmured against her skin. "Did I drag you here?"

"No, you didn't, but this was the last thing I thought might happen…you see...um"

He rose and lay on one elbow, watching her body blush under his gaze. His hand drew slow, lazy circles over her bare stomach before it dipped down towards her shorts.

"I've been in this bed many times already and nothing like this happened."

"What?" His hand stopped just inside her waistband.

"Well, I was purring last time," she muttered.

"I can make you purr," he chuckled, his hand moving south once more. Her face blushed a deep red and she grabbed his hand, stopping its descent.

"No! Not like that!" She sat up and her eyes flew open wide in panic as she came nose to nose with the legendary Uchiha.

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His eyes narrowed when he saw hers up close. That familiar jewel green. He studied her face, taking in each unfamiliar feature. Those eyes…he knew them. Then his gaze traveled down to her neck and what lay there.

A pink collar with a white bell and below that…his hands tightened…the string with the kanji.

Dawn

"Sukoshi…masaka." He was all over her again, dominating her. His hands on her were steel once more. "Who are you? What are you planning?"

"Neko-baa-chan sent me!" Fear made Sakura blurt out the truth.

"Don't lie to me," he scoffed, "Neko-san has no hand in the matters of men." His hand dug into her flesh mercilessly, bruising the tender skin of her neck and making her whimper. "She _never_ does."

"Matte!" she yelped. "Baa-chan sent me to keep the last Uchihas from killing each other and to set the balance back." She was panting in terror, tears running from the corners of her eyes.

"Balance? What are you saying? I should just kill you now for meddling where you don't belong," he leaned down till his lips touched her ear, "little virgin."

Sakura's face turned new, darker shades of brilliant red and her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

"What? Nothing to say?" The kunai appeared at her throat once more. "Well then-"

"W-wait! If you kill me, you'll be turned into a cat for life. The contract between us has already been fulfilled!"

"Contract?"

"The enchantment. I already captured you and the others. If I changed back to human form, you should all already be cats!"

"Obviously, it didn't work, kunoichi," he informed her. "Your mission failed."

"No, it's true. I saw Hidan turn yesterday! I trapped him in the cellar out back behind the base. Please go check, if you don't believe me. If you kill me first, it will be a mistake you will regret forever!"

"I will."

The tomoe in his red eyes spun and she was brought under his Sharingan with ease. He removed his hand from her, pulled up the sheet to cover her nakedness, and rose from the bed. All was quiet in the hallways and base. Itachi hurried to check the outdoor cellar because, as it just so happened, he was beginning to feel kind of funny.

He opened the cellar just a bit to find a light-grey cat trying to jump out, cursing at him in a way that surely resembled the younger zombie twin. He shut the cursing cat inside as it hit the door with a _thunk_. Itachi rushed back to the house. He burst into his room and grabbed the girl roughly, bringing her back from her genjutsu nightmare with a scream. He slammed her into the wall.

"Take the curse off, kunoichi!" He shook her hard enough to rattle her teeth, "Remove the spell!"

"I-I cannot! Not for three years, Uchiha-san." She looked terrified.

"I'll kill you."

"If you kill me, you can never break the spell!" she said hurriedly.

He dropped her as the first wave hit him; it was too late. His mind blurred with possible ways to combat it but, being the genius he was, he knew he was already screwed. There was just no time.

"Itachi-san? Daijoubu?"

The ground seemed to move beneath him as he went to his knees. Putting his head in his hands and curling onto the floor, he passed out.

When he regained consciousness, he was a cat.

He looked up into the wide, green eyes of the little girl who had captured him, watching him from the edge of his bed like she couldn't believe what she'd just pulled off.

"Congratulations, Sukoshi," The sleek, ember-eyed, black cat sitting on the floor spoke calmly to her.

"Uh, arigato, Itachi-san." She cleared her throat. "My name is Haruno Sakura."

"Don't push it, little one," the angry cat said smartly, not returning the formality. He gave a low growl, "What is your plan?"

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Konoha

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Kakashi appeared on the roof of Hokage Tower in a blast of smoke and swirling leaves. He nodded to the ANBU stationed there and, in the pre-dawn light, made his way to the Hokage's window. He preferred to avoid the doors whenever possible.

With a tap on the windowpane and Tsunade's nod of acceptance, he stepped into the quiet of her office. She looked worried, and he didn't like the fact that she had an unopened bottle of sake collecting dust on her desk. "What's up?"

"I want-damn," she hurriedly performed a silencing jutsu around them. "I want you to collect a team of four from those working on the Uchiha project. I want you all ready to travel if it becomes necessary."

"Is Sakura in trouble?" he asked becoming alarmed.

"I'm not sure yet. I know the enchantment has changed." She looked at him. "I don't think she's in cat form any longer."

"Is that a problem?"

"It could be if she is still trying to capture Akatsuki. I expected her transformation to last a few more days. They might not look kindly on a kunoichi suddenly appearing in their midst."

"That's an understatement. Do you think she can hide from them?"

"It's possible, but I want to be prepared. If she calls me with an SOS, I want you to be ready to run to her."

"We could go now, just in case. We could escort them back."

"It won't be easy to find her. Besides, the last thing I need is to announce to other countries that we are invading them to capture criminals without permission. This has to remain a covert operation. If I send you to collect Sakura, it will be an S-class rescue mission. That will bring a lot of attention from both in and out of Konoha. I don't want that."

"So…you want us to hurry and get ready…to wait."

"Yes. We've got to believe in Sakura's ability to pull this off and her ability to know when it's time to call for help."

"You're right, of course, Hokage-sama. Sakura's got a cool head. She'll know how to handle the situation. I'll assemble the team and wait in the Uchiha Quarter. Just send your summons as a sign, and we will head straight for Grass. Otherwise, I'll come back here every twelve hours to check in with you for any updates."

Tsunade nodded, relieved to have a plan in place. "Thank you, Kakashi. I can always count on you. You know, you'd make a fine replacement." She patted her chair's arm.

He grinned behind his mask, then laughed as he waved his hands in denial. "No, no. You just keep training Naruto. I could never handle being stuck in the office all day."

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Things you probably already know:

Shimatta-a light expletive meaning something like Oh no! or Oh damn. It expresses a feeling of regret.

AWOL-absent without leave.

Matte-Wait, hold on.

Daijoubu?-Are you ok?

Arigato-thanks.

Sukoshi-little bit, little one.

A/N-I hope you liked the Itachi/Sakura moments. *fans self* Who wouldn't want to wake up to that? Lol. Well, except for the scary parts.

I put a new pic up of the newly captured cat, Itachi, you can see it by clicking on the link at the top of my profile page. Thanks for reading.

K&K


	14. Chapter 14 Confessions and Possessions

DNON

Story by: Kaze and Kiba

A big thank you goes to my beta, Sakura's Indecision, to whom I just keep piling work on. Now I've heaped yet another ecchi Sakura story on her editing plate. You might be seeing some of it soon, who knows? Don't worry; I am not abandoning anything else. I just got an itch to start something new and it took on a life of its own.

Here's an extra long chapter of co9t for you. I'm going Agility Trialing with my dogs for the next four days. I can't wait to see some reviews when I get back. Wish me luck!

R&R

K&K

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Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter Break 14-Confessions and Possessions

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Colonial Proverb-You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats.

Chinese Proverb-I gave an order to the cat, it gave it to its tail.

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Grass Country

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The sleek, black cat on the floor flicked his lengthy tail and gave a low growl, "What is your plan, Sukoshi?"

"Round everyone up and leave this place as quickly as possible." Sakura got off the bed, wrapping his sheet around her and tucking it to cover her eye-catching attributes. Itachi made a good point; it was time to execute the end phase of her plan. The clock was ticking. She had to collect her wards and get far away from here soon. There were still at least three more Akatsuki agents that might show up in the coming days and she did _not_ want to be here if they did.

"And what makes you think _we_ will go with _you_?"

"If you don't stay close to me or my master, you can never regain your human form."

"Your…master? Is that Neko-chan?"

"I won't tell you any more right now. I have things to do, but the first thing I'm going to do is borrow your toothbrush," she gave his confused look a small smile. "Sorry, but it's been a month since I could brush my teeth properly."

She came out of the bathroom with a happy sigh.

"I wish I had time to soak in your tub, too."

The dark cat tilted his head at her odd statement.

"Man," she marveled under her breath, "a whole month just using my tongue-oh," she remembered his kindness, "and the one time you helped me." She stopped for a moment and kneeled next to Itachi on the floor. She tentatively reached out a hand to touch the cat, only to withdraw it when he pulled away. She sighed, "I know you're unhappy with this situation. I just want to tell you that I'm grateful for your help when you healed me after the fire. Thank you for that. It was very kind of you to help me and I won't forget your compassion." She brushed a lock of hair behind her scarred, but whole, ear. "It's too bad your history led you down this path, Itachi-san. With your strength, you could have made a wonderful healer. Your chakra feels very tranquil." Sakura rose when Itachi looked away without responding. She was blushing madly at her bold confession being rejected…by a cat no less. Perhaps she had gone too far in stating her gratitude. She sensed uncomfortable feelings between them rise; to cover for it, she prepared to leave.

Sakura hastily opened a few drawers she knew contained weapons and important scrolls. Collecting the scrolls in a sack and strapping on a kunai pouch, she began searching for Itachi's Akatsuki ring. She looked on the floor till she found the ring, where it had rolled under the bed. Itachi's continued silence eventually drove her to speak again.

"Do you know how nerve wracking it is having no weapons or chakra around you people?" she asked rhetorically. "I was completely at your mercy."

"I think you are underestimating the organization, little one."

"Believe me, Itachi-san, I know what I am up against."

"Once they figure out your game, they will eat you alive."

"Itachi-san, even if this destroys me, I have already achieved one of my goals. I have done my best to protect the ones I love. I will do my best to take care of _you_, too.

Itachi was taken aback by a truth from the girl that hit so close to his own heart.

She gently flared and flexed her chakra, thrilled to finally to feel the power humming through her hands. She took out one of the kunai between her fingers and thumb and smoothly bent the hardened steel in half with a little half-smile on her face.

'We're strong again,' her Inner self, now returned, preened happily. 'Now we can go see if the rest have transformed and blow this joint.'

'Where have you been?' Sakura questioned moodily. 'You know, you have a talent for disappearing when I need you most.'

'You needed that time for character building. Besides, I was enjoying the show,' her Inner drooled. 'It's too bad the Uchiha are nearly extinct because they are damn _hot_! I can't believe you actually turned down a chance to jump his bones.'

'Great, even my own mind thinks I'm a prude,' she thought sarcastically.

She returned her attention to the stoic Uchiha-turned-cat.

"I'm borrowing one of your shirts, Itachi-san, since you _ripped_ mine," she informed him narrowing her eyes in reproach. She also grabbed a roll of black bandages from the drawer. "I never would have thought you were the depraved sort."

"Tch, depraved you say? Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? It was you aching for my touch while moaning your lover's name."

"That was when I thought…he's not my…never mind."

"So, when you _begged_ me to join you in the shower…?"

"I was trying to stall. My chakra paths had not reconnected properly yet and you seemed so determined to…" Her face now outmatched her hair in rosiness. Itachi was mildly amused at her naiveté, so he continued to tease her.

He slunk towards her with natural, animal grace, "Men have…needs, kunoichi." He rubbed his back against her leg with his tail high. "As do women. You needn't be ashamed." He jumped up to the dresser, face to face with her as he put his paw on her chest. "In fact, I seem to recall you being quite pleased, at first, when I caressed your exquisite-"

"That's enough, Uchiha-san!" She pushed his paw off her breast, thankful that his touch no longer embarrassed her as much in his new form. "We both know that's not why I hid in your bed. It was stupid, yes, but I felt safe with you. At least until I woke up," she mumbled that last under her breath, but Itachi's keen ears picked up her words. He felt a bit rueful that he'd made her ashamed of her innocence…especially with the sacrifice she had made to undertake such a suicidal mission. He knew the dangerous men she was dealing with and there was little chance of her coming out the other side of this mission alive. He jumped onto the bed to await her next move.

Sakura went back into the bathroom and stripped off the sheet, her ruined tank top, and shredded chest bindings. She used the black bandages to wrap her breasts, and then she slipped on Itachi's shirt. The top third of the shirt was mesh but, with the black bandages underneath, it covered her decently enough. Itachi's shirt was kind of long, but it was snug. It was probably the best fit of anything she would find in the base and would have to suffice until she was home and in her own clothes again.

'Home,' she thought excitedly.

She walked back into Itachi's bedroom to find him examining his new body.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to it quickly. Where do you keep your medication, Itachi-san?"

The black cat's hackles rose. His red-flecked eyes observed her suspiciously.

"What are you talking about?"

"No way," Sakura stopped and put her hand on her hip. "You are not pulling the wool over my eyes. I know you are ill. I am a medical ninja. Now, where are your meds? I want to take them so I know how to treat you."

"I'm fine…"

"Liar! And if there's anything else you want, you better tell me right now because I'm torching this place when I leave."

The cat glared at her in irritation. Finally, when he realized this form of intimidation wasn't going to work while he was stuck like this, he walked into the corner and stepped on a loose board to open up his hiding spot.

"You're lucky the pests in this dump didn't eat those," she told him as she reached under the board.

"It's trapped, kunoichi. You'd better release it before you put your hand in there." He closed his eyes heavily. "Why am I helping her?" he growled to himself.

"It can't be helped, Itachi-san. It's part of the charm that ensnared you," she answered. "We are united, both of us, by the spell until it's finished or dispelled. I need take care of you, and you are compelled to help me or at least not to endanger me. Give and take equally, that's what makes the spell so powerful." She left out the part about this spell being designed primarily to capture him. "And no, I won't dispel it. If I do, you will remain a cat permanently, so don't ask."

"Why would you do this? Why not just kill us all?"

She pretended not to hear him, instead concentrating on retrieving his meds and placing them in a bag she found in his closet. She took a canteen she found there, filling it from the bathroom tap. When she transferred the Akatsuki ring to her shorts' pocket, she found the collars Neko-baa-chan had given her.

She slipped one over Itachi's head.

"What will you do if they are not changed?"

"I will fight and you and I will escape together," she told him with confidence. "Come on," she said, cautiously opening his door and listening for signs of life.

She went across to Kisame's room and knocked lightly before entering. The door opened slowly to reveal the ex Mist-nin sitting on his bed, only now he was a large, mottled-gray, feline. Well, large was probably an understatement; this had to be the_ largest_ housecat Sakura had ever seen.

"I suppose _you _have something to do with this?" he asked sarcastically.

"Kisame-san, if you would please come with me, all will be explained." She picked up his ring from the bed and slipped a collar over his head. Then she went to search for the medical chakra scroll he had used on Itachi when he was sick. Upon finding the used medical scroll, she discovered it was useless for chakra healing now. However, the symbols drawn on it might give her clues to some powerful jutsu, so she brought it along.

Kisame looked behind the kunoichi to the black cat standing near the door, and snickered, "So she got you too, huh? The legendary, all-seeing Uchiha eyes failed you?"

"Tch. You have fared no better." Itachi eyed him boldly.

The larger feline laughed out loud. "Right you are, but I never claimed to be undefeatable. You're the ninja who never sleeps. I was probably napping when she sprinkled fairy dust in my beard."

"What?" Sakura gasped at the ridiculous accusation. "I did no such thing, Kisame-san! And, FYI, none of you were simple to catch. I was just very lucky. If I had nine lives when I started this mission, I'm probably down to two or three by now. We have to leave so-"

"I'm not leaving without my sword," he interrupted her, "and no one but I can touch it."

"Is _that_ so?" she asked.

She walked over to the sentient sword and, speaking low, explained her intention to leave the base and burn it down. She stated that, to remain with its master, Samehada must accompany her. She told it that the first time it stuck her, it would be left in the spot it fell when dropped, but Samehada's master would still be forced to come with her in order to survive. The sword seemed to give off no ill will, so she reached out to pick it up.

"Most grown men can't bear that sword," Kisame jeered. "A tiny, little girl like you will never be able to carry Samehada, kitten." His taunting laugh turned into choked surprise when she lifted the sword like it was a toy and set it against her shoulder.

"You…"

"Shall we go collect the others…boys?" Sakura asked with a grin, stuffing Kisame's best water scrolls into the pouch with Itachi's belonging's as she left the room with Samehada.

"I'll be damned." Kisame jumped off the bed to follow the little girl.

"I think we all are," Itachi said, following after.

0o0o0

Kakuzu was sitting in front of his money drawer when she entered. He hissed at her and looked very angry and unhappy…for a cat. The dark-calico's greenish-red eyes glared at the trio entering his room.

"I should have known," he scoffed acidly.

"Kakuzu, if you will accompany me, I will explain what is going on."

"I'm not leaving."

"If you don't accompany me, you will remain a cat forever."

He sniffed and mumbled something.

Sakura moved closer and, setting down the large sword, she kneeled before the mulish cat.

"What was that, Kakuzu-san?" she asked.

"I'm not leaving the money behind," he vowed stubbornly.

"Oh…well. We can take it with us, if it will help you," she smiled at the pouting feline. She was required to look after them and she knew that Kakuzu would never be happy leaving his money behind. It would be easier to appease him. He was attached to practically every coin that passed through his fingers, she thought, watching him weigh his decision.

Finally, he nodded and she got out a large bag and took the money from his desk along with a safe she opened for him that was full of gold.

'Damn, there's millions in ryo here!' she reflected, picking up a heavy bar.

She filled the large canvas sack three-fourths full of gold and stuffed the rest with cash before the spend-thrift cat was satisfied. She found his Akatsuki ring and slipped it into her pocket.

She found Deidara and Tobi's rooms empty, so she went down to Sasori's at the far end of the hall.

She trembled with remembrance as she opened the door to see all the puppets and body parts which were waiting to become puppets lying there. She knew some of them were corpses.

"Omae!" the brownish-gold cat hissed from under the bed. "I knew I recognized those eyes!"

"You know this girl, Sasori-san?" Itachi inquired.

He spit and hissed again, baring his sharp teeth. His tawny fur rose along his back and his bright amber eyes narrowed at her.

"This is the child who helped my grandmother defeat me."

Kisame laughed. "This little girl whupped you?"

"Urusai! She has inhuman strength and she had generated an antidote for my poisons," Sasori explained petulantly.

Kisame clucked his tongue when he recalled the kunoichi had just picked up Samehada like it was a child's toy.

"Sasori-san," Sakura said a bit nervously. This man still gave her nightmares, "we are leaving this place and you must come too. I'll explain more when I've assembled the others."

She turned to leave.

"Wait! You must take my puppets!"

"That is _not_ happening," she assured him. She had fought his endless puppet army and had no desire to ever see it again.

"Haruno-san, you owe me. I did give you the information about how to contact Orochimaru-sama as you requested after you won our fight, did I not? Was he not at the Tenchi Bridge as promised?"

'Damn it!' Sakura thought. That information had led to nothing but another fight.

Itachi remembered now where he knew this girl from; his brother's genin team. She had been with Hatake, Uzamaki, and an elderly woman when he had to delay them from taking back the One-Tail's Jinchuuriki. The obaa-san must have been Sasori's grandmother. What would Sakura want with Orochimaru? Perhaps it was information on Sasuke she had really been after. The foolish boy had run off to train with the Snake Sannin. Itachi wondered just what their relationship entailed, since this woman was moaning Sasuke's name when he touched her. It couldn't be that Sasuke had sent her to capture him? Could it?

Sakura sighed in exasperation.

"Sasori-san, even if I wanted to carry all these puppets full of poisonous weaponry, I couldn't. I'm already taking Samehada and Kakuzu's money.

"Don't forget Hidan's scythe," Kakuzu warned.

"I'm not lugging anything for that bastard! He tried to kill me all month."

"For once, the idiot was right," Kisame mused. "We should have let him do it."

"If you tell him that he was right, he will become intolerable," Sasori cautioned him.

"You must take Hidan's scythe also, Sukoshi. It is too dangerous to leave behind. Fire won't destroy it and Hidan will cause more trouble if you don't bring it with us. The scythe is part of his religious rites and is bonded to him. Another Jashinist will be able to track him through that weapon."

"You're saying that if I leave it here, they'll know he didn't leave voluntarily, right?"

No one answered her.

"You can use a transport scroll to carry it," Kakuzu informed her. "I have one in my room large enough."

"Only one? If you have more, I can carry everything in them." She indicated the bags of money and Kisame's sword.

"Akatsuki travel light, kunoichi. We don't need a bunch of those scrolls," Kakuzu told her. "Besides…" and here came the true reason, "they are expensive."

"You couldn't carry Samehada in one anyhow," Kisame reminded her. "He wouldn't allow it."

"Why are you helping her?" Sasori questioned the cat with the glowing green eyes tinged with red.

"She offered a chance to become normal again. I'm not going to remain a cat."

"Still…"

"Cats have no use for money," Kakuzu's word was final, as always.

"Listen, Sakura…san, you don't have to take these puppets," his tone grew a bit more respectful toward the kunoichi. "There are three large scrolls inside the closet with enough puppets to satisfy me for now. Just bring those."

She looked unsure.

"What now?"

"Are any of those…were they once," she visibly shuddered remembering their battle, "…human?"

"Human?" Kisame repeated in surprise.

"He almost killed me with a puppet made out of the Third Kazekage." She turned to the Sand-nin, "I'm not dragging corpses around," she declared with a final shiver.

"They are just puppets. Nothing human…I swear."

"Alright, I'll take them," she told him, "You better not lie to me."

"I've given my word, Haruno-san." He almost sounded contrite. "You know it to be true."

"Yeah, sure, after all, 'cats are favored by the Gods,' are they not, Sasori-san?" she gave him a meaningful look to remind him of his bold confession to enslave her only two days before. "Forgive me if I don't believe you right away." She cautiously opened the closet, knowing what she saw there would give her nightmares for years to come. Among all manner of body parts, she found the three puppet scrolls. They were very similar to what Kankuro carried.

'Of course,' she thought, 'Kankuro's puppets were made by Sasori of the Red Sand.'

She stored them in the special pack she found in the closet and put them on her back just like she had seen Kankuro do. She collared Sasori and asked for his Akatsuki ring. He told her Tobi had it.

"Let's go." She gladly left the creepy room forever. She definitely was not stupid enough to snoop around in there. There were probably many traps and, knowing the man's love of poisons, they were probably all very deadly.

She had to take care of them all, she knew. She was tied to them now, even if she didn't like them. Because of the contract, she felt compelled to listen to their demands and felt compelled to concede to some of them, if they were not too ridiculous. Neko-baa-chan had told her there was no give without some take. It seemed they, too, were more willing to aid her, if she relented on some things.

They found Deidara and Tobi fighting in the living room.

"I don't know how you did it, you shithead, but I'm gonna kill you for it!" Deidara yelled holding Tobi down with both paws on his neck.

"Sempai!" Tobi wheezed, "I didn't do it! I promise!" the poor, whorl-striped, black and gold cat was slowly dying from lack of air under the long-haired, yellow and white cat's large paws.

"Stop that now! He's telling you the truth." Sakura pulled Deidara off Tobi and sat him on the couch. "If you'll all come with me, I'll explain. But first, where are your rings?" Sakura slipped collars on the two cats. Everyone was collared now except Hidan.

They told her where they had been and she retrieved the rings, along with a few more scrolls and trinkets, and weapons they wanted. She refused to take Deidara's huge supply of C4, since she had plans for it, but she took his pouch of C2 and strapped it around her leg. She led them all out of the base to the cellar Hidan was hunkered in. They could hear him cursing colorfully.

She opened the door and he leapt out screaming at everyone.

"I fucking told you we should have killed that fucking cat!" He started.

"Watch your mouth, Hidan," Sakura grabbed him by the back of the neck, and gave him a shake when he tried to bite her. She slipped a collar over his neck.

"What the fuck is that?" Hidan hissed at her, trying to push it off.

"It's for your protection. Leave it alone."

"Screw you!"

"Shut up and listen because I am only going to say this one time," she said calmly. "All other explanations will wait until we are back in Konoha."

"Fuck you, bitch! I'm not going anywh-"

Kakuzu smacked him on the head.

"Shut it."

"Thank you, Kakuzu-san."

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I am from the Hidden Leaf village. As you know, you have all been placed under a spell. If I die, you will remain trapped as cats for the rest of your lives with no hope of changing back. You will lose the ability to speak the human tongue and become ordinary cats."

"Oh, you'll die, bitch! Ow!" Hidan winced as he was smacked again.

"If you return with me to Konoha, the Hokage will tell you her terms in order to release you. If you stray from me more than ten miles, the contract is void and you will remain as ordinary housecats forever. I am going to leave this place within the hour so make your decisions now." She rose to look for Hidan's ring. She figured it was in the mess of strings tied to that tree and she set off to find it.

"Wait. That's all?"

"That's enough for now. If you want to know more, come with me, or else…" She shrugged and left to search for the ring. She couldn't force them to leave with her; they had to decide on their own. When she found the tangled nest of string, she located the ring and the odd necklace Hidan also wore.

When she came back, she went to Kakuzu's room to borrow ink and the weapon scroll. She infused the scroll with her chakra as she brought it back into Hidan's room and placed it on the bed. Kakuzu told her not to put anything but the scythe inside the scroll because of its inherent wickedness.She picked up the scythe; just touching it gave her a sense of foreboding. She slid it into the scroll for safe keeping. On a whim, she also tossed in the necklace. She thought that maybe it had something to do with his strange religion. Once it was in, she rolled it up and placed an extra seal on it to keep it from being accidently opened. Then she stuck it into the almost-full money sack.

She retrieved Samehada from the living room and set everyone's rings on the kitchen table.

She found something to eat and put leftovers from the fridge on the table for the rest, if they were interested. She sat and ate, explaining to them that there would be little time for breaks on the trip back.

She packed a few dry rations for the trip and found two more canteens and filled them.

Hidan had been bitching non-stop since he left the cellar and she had pulled some useful information from the idiot.

One, the rings were used to communicate with their leader.

Two, the rings had something to do with the Jinchuuriki rituals.

Three, the rings could tell their leader where they were.

Thus, the rings had to go. She was not taking them back to Konoha. She wanted these nin to disappear from the planet without a trace. No one would be able to find them.

She went back into the house and gathered the packs and bags and brought them all out, leaning them against the tree.

"One last trip." She went inside and faced the back hall leaving all of the doors open she did a small katon jutsu and set them ablaze. She went into the kitchen and picked up Samehada.

"Ok, big fella, one more thing and we will leave this burning hellhole together. I need your help to smash these rings," she told the sword as she pulled off the kanji that read 'Dawn' from her neck and tossed it alongside the rings.

Kisame snickered behind her. "He only does what he wants."

"We'll see about that." She hefted the sword and took a huge swing.

"Shannaro!"

The sword came down with a deafening blow, smashing the table and all seven rings in one blow."

"Damn, I love strong women," Kisame said purring.

"Wait till you meet my Shishou," Sakura grinned at the overly-large, blue-grey cat.

She waited a ways back with the others, watching the base burn until Deidara's explosives blew sky high. Then, satisfied there would be no evidence left, she brought out a particularly strong water scroll she found in Kisame's room and set the jutsu free, putting out the fire around the decimated base.

"I believe that takes care of the rat problem. Gentlemen, we're leaving."

"Ittekimasu," one of the seven cats uttered as they began their journey.

0o0o0

0o0o0

0o0o0

Things you probably already know:

Omae-You! Not very polite.

Urusai-you're noisy, shut up.

Ittekimasu-I'm leaving or I shall leave and return. Wishful thinking on that cat's part.

I wonder which cat you'll like best?

I've put up new pictures of the newly captured cats. I wonder if you'll notice something else in it? Anyhow, the link is on my profile page. Check em out. After you review please.

Seems like it's been a while? Yeah, well…

Reviews=Love=Author's Inspiration=Faster Updates!

Thanks

K&K


	15. Chapter 15 Wild Roses Have Thorns

DNON

Cat-O-Nine Tails by-Kaze and Kiba

Chapter Break 15-Wild Roses Carry Thorns

0o0o0

A/N-Thanks goes for another awesome edit to Sakura's Indecision. Get ready for a twist, y'all :- P

0o0o0

To see a white cat on the road is lucky. - American superstition

Proverb: A cornered cat becomes as fierce as a lion.

"The moon's turned black; For I loved Him and He didn't love back. -Dorothy Parker, writer, poet.

"O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circled orb. Lest that thy love prove likewise variable."-Juliet. From the play-_Romeo and Juliet_-by William Shakespeare

0o0o0

0o0o0

Borderlands of Grass country

0o0o0

0o0o0

"I'm tired," Suigetsu whined for the tenth time that afternoon. "Can we stop yet? I need a break."

"Shut up, asshole. All you ever do is take 'breaks.' We are getting closer to finding Itachi. We can't stop now, ne, Sasuke-kun?" The girl fawned over the dark-tempered ninja.

"I'm hungry, too," the silvery-haired nin continued, ignoring her toadying over the arrogant Uchiha they were following. "It's way past my dinnertime. _Sasu-kins_ can kill his nii-chan tomorrow. I'm starving to death _today_. It's not like this is their first fight."

"Can it, you jerk! Sasuke-kun almost killed Itachi last time and this time he _will _beat him for sure." She shrilled at Suigetsu before simpering over Sasuke. "Ano…are you hungry, Sasuke-kun?" she cooed. "If you want to stop, I can make you something to eat."

"So, we only stop if _he's_ hungry?"

"Shut up!"

"Your cooking sucks anyway. I want some instant ramen."

"Sasuke-kun loves my cooking! Don't you, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke kept walking, ignoring them.

Karin ran up and hung on Sasuke's arm.

"Sasuke-kun, hold on! Wait! It's bad! I can still feel we're getting closer to Itachi, but now there are many more chakra signatures with him and they are all very strong. We should stay back until he's alone."

"Just stay out of the way until I finish," Sasuke ordered.

"That's what I love about you, Sasuke-kun. You're so protective of me! You'll win this time for sure, even without the curse seal."

"Baka! He just wants you to stay out of his way. He doesn't care if you live or die. You are just a homing beacon for chakra. Juugo and I will keep the others out of the way, but once Itachi's dead, Sasuke will have no further use for _your_ ugly face."

"Shut it, Suigetsu, before I kill you!"

The fourth member of the party followed quietly. He noticed the anticipation on the young Uchiha's face and shivered. No man should look forward to taking another's life so much. The large, ginger-haired man knew his alter ego under the curse seal was bloodthirsty, but he always regretted the outcome and dreaded its onset. Sasuke's bloodlust for his aniki knew no bounds and it scared Juugo.

"Sasuke-kun, you don't understand! We have to turn back! They are only a few miles away and, I can tell now, there are eight chakra signatures. One is at least Jounin status, possibly higher, and it's the _weakest_ one. Six others are S-class and the last is off the chart—like your ex-teammate's." A look of alarm lit her face. "We have to get out of here _now_!"

"That would be the Monster of the Hidden Mist with my new sword." Suigetsu grinned and rubbed his hands in anticipation.

"Shut up, you two." Sasuke calmly reached out with his chakra, trying to feel the group coming at them.

Strange…more than one of the chakra signatures felt very familiar.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Sakura was doing her damnedest to get back into Fire country before sunset. But carrying bags of treasure and the precious possessions of seven nukenin and one huge, temperamental sword across Grass country was kicking her ass.

She could have requested one of said seven to aid her, but this was _her_ mission. They were her prisoners and, contract or not, they would probably try to kill her the first time she changed them back and she needed to be at her best when that happened. She was not at her best at the moment.

She could and would do this, she decided.

She would _not_ let down her Shishou.

She would_ not_ let down Naruto.

She would _not_ let down…

"Sukoshi," Itachi interrupted her stubborn thoughts. "There are powerful ninja approaching us quickly. What, may I ask, is your plan?"

'Damn!' Normally having such a threatening presence around her would have kept most enemies at bay. Only an imbecile would challenge the chakra force surrounding them. She had not planned to hide their presence until they reached Fire country. There was only one person she knew that would willingly seek out such a daunting opponent and she knew that chakra signature.

After all, she had dreamed of him a thousand times, including this very morning.

"Sasuke-kun." She stared off into the forest before her.

"Kunoichi! Call us forth. We'll take care of them," Kisame offered.

"No," she said forcefully.

"Do you really think you can confront them _alone_?"

"Me and Samehada here…if you don't mind."

"Beware, kunoichi. Samehada sucks chakra from its opponent, but it also feeds off its user in the fight."

"I think I can handle myself, Kisame-san."

"Samehada can also transfer chakra back to you from your opponent…but some of the side effects might be less than desirable to you."

"You couldn't possibly mean something like…gills or blue skin."

Kisame chucked, "Nothing gets by you, kitten."

"Thankfully, not yet. I appreciate the heads up. I will not draw chakra from the sword. With a little luck, I won't even need to raise it."

"Samehada is a lot to take on the first time, kitten. I can help keep you from dying if you-"

"I'll handle this myself, Kisame-san. I can't avoid them now. I'm not going to fight them, just speak to them. Besides, even if I die, you are still going to be harmless, right?" she asked sardonically.

'Either way, I can't lose,' she thought. What _would_ she say to Sasuke? "Here's your nii-chan. Sorry, he's covered in fur." No. She knew she couldn't reveal her mission. Besides, Sasuke would never believe it or her.

"All of you block your chakra and scatter. Remember, if you get more than ten miles away from me, you are doomed to that shape forever. Meet back up with me one mile after I pass them and keep your chakra hidden."

"This plan is foolish, little one," Itachi warned her.

"Yeah?" No respect. She had captured all of them and still these men gave her no freakin respect! She put her hand on her hip, looking like another bossy woman in her life, as her eyes gleamed in challenge. "It's also an _order,_ Itachi-kun." Feline eyes widened in disbelief at the suffix she used with him. "I am _your_ master for the next three years. Now, _scat_!"

The hair on seven backs rose, annoyed by a little girl commanding them, but seven chakra signatures were concealed flawlessly and seven cats disappeared into the afternoon's shadows.

Not a second too soon.

Sakura turned to meet the three ninja that landed fifty feet before her, and the fourth, who stood some way back.

Taking her time, she set the pair of heavy bags on the ground with a loud _thud_ before taking off the puppet master's scrolls. She took Samehada and set him against her shoulder whispering softly to him as she went to face them, hoping she could bluff her way out of a confrontation.

"I might need a little help to keep your master safe, Sammy, but I promise you all the chakra you can eat if you'll give me a hand."

The sword thrummed in agreement, feeling its true master nearby, watching in anticipation.

Sakura's chakra hummed to feel such power. The sword gave her some much-needed confidence. Now she understood why the Mist nin carried the sword everywhere with him and was loathe to leave it behind. It _would_ be a grievous loss.

If Sasuke had sensed the chakra of the men traveling with her, she knew he would confront her to see who she was. With the Akatsuki now cloaked and hidden, he would think he was mistaken and probably leave quickly, seeing as he wanted nothing to do with her any other time.

Sakura had a plan. She would greet Sasuke, tell him Tsunade had information for him about his brother, and leave. She didn't want any trouble.

Of course, it seemed lately that trouble had a way of finding her.

"Konbanwa, Sasuke-kun." She nodded at the man walking toward her; just his physical presence still made her heart race.

"Dammit, Sasuke! You know this hot, little number?"

The platinum-haired man stepped between them with a devilish grin on his face. Sakura tried to ignore him and keep eye contact with her ex-teammate. Sasuke came to a halt, his midnight-eyes watching her suspiciously.

"Fuck! I love a hot girl with a big sword!" Suigetsu unstrapped the large sword from his own back. "I got a pretty big sword myself, honey. Let's leave these jokers here and I'll show it to you." He winked lasciviously. He eyed her tight shorts and the black shirt that she had snagged from Itachi's wardrobe before she torched the base. Every luscious curve showed quite nicely.

"Sasuke, I need to-" she began.

"I can take care of _all_ your needs, baby." Slick as oil, he had slid around to flank Sakura on the left. She gripped Samehada's hilt tighter, but remained calm, trusting Sasuke would listen to her.

"Suigetsu, back off," the Uchiha nukenin ordered.

The girl that sat in the background, jumped forward to follow up Sasuke's command by adding her own.

"Leave the _whore_ alone, Suigetsu. She's not what we're looking for. Her chakra signature is _wretched_." The redhead had to nerve to hang herself on Sasuke like a cheap and gaudy piece of jewelry. Sakura felt a prick in her chest that her ex-teammate simply ignored the pushy woman's antics, letting her hang. Suigetsu broke the stare-down with a laugh.

"I think the pretty lady can choose for herself what she wants, _Sasuke-kuun_," he mimicked the girl's whiny suffix use. Suddenly, Sakura could feel his warm breath on her ear. She turned to face him and he grinned, "You wanna come with me, sweet cheeks?" His eyes smoldered as he watched Sakura's disgusted, little half-scowl, as if he really believed she was considering his proposition. His finger slid up her arm slowly before he tugged a lock of her hair.

"Is this _natural_, Pinky?" Suigetsu's eyes traveled south.

He licked his lips in anticipation and Sakura couldn't take it anymore.

She snorted laughter.

"Sasuke-kun, _this_ is what you've replaced your team with? This…this _pervert_, who's even _more_ stupid than Naruto ever was and a skinny tramp who wears so much perfume she couldn't sneak up on a skunk?"

"Bitch!"

Green eyes blazed, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Orochimaru must have scrambled your brain."

"You haven't answered my question, hot stuff." Suigetsu laughed softly and whispered into her ear, "Are you ready for _my_ sword?" His wandering hand had found its way to her ass.

She pushed him away forcefully, "You can keep your _sword_ in your pants, jerk, unless you want me to shave off a few inches. And you probably couldn't afford that. And if you touch me again, I'll pound you."

"Fuck yeah, Sasuke! She's spunky!" he laughed light-heartedly. "Well, the least I can do, sweetheart, is take that burden off your shoulders," he purred.

"Try it and you will lose what little you have on_ your_ shoulders."

"Sakura," Sasuke interrupted the word battle. "Where did you get that sword?"

Hearing him say her name brought her heart rate up another notch. She fought to keep the flush from rising on her skin and speak evenly to him. "I'm sorry I can't disclose that information at the moment, Sasuke-kun. Feel free to come and ask the Hokage. She has information for you about your brother and she's promised to give it to you without arresting you for going rogue. That's all I know for sure. She will have to tell you the whole story," she nodded and smiled, content she'd given him enough to bring him back to the village. Once he got there, it would be up to him to work out his brother issues, "Well, I gotta go. It's gonna be dark soon and I want to get out of Grass country, so I'll just-"

"Weak," Sasuke muttered.

Sakura's face fell and her stomach sank. Sasuke always knew the best ways to bruise her.

The red-haired trollop next to him brayed laughter at his insult. "I told you she was a waste of time, Sasuke-kun. We don't need any information from her or her _stupid_ Hokage. I'm the only one you need."

"Who _gave_ it to you, Sakura?" Sasuke asked, curling his lip in a sneer at his useless ex-teammate.

She was floored. He didn't even believe she _could_ get a sword like this by herself. 'That's IT!' her Inner screamed in her head, 'Gloves are off now, Uchiha!' Sakura's Inner came out with a snarl.

"What's the matter, Sasuke-kun? Having trouble meeting your _goals_? Or is _she_ one of them?"

The trampy redhead at Sasuke's side preened herself, answering Sakura's question with a holier-than-thou smirk.

Sakura straightened her spine, pushing her chest out and ignoring Suigetsu's wolf whistle as she idly looked at her nails like she was bored. Sakura purred in her best little girl voice. "Gee, Sasuke-kun," she pouted prettily, "I didn't know you wanted _ugly_ children." Wide, innocent green eyes looked up at him from beneath lowered rose-colored lashes.

Karin screamed unintelligibly, the large, quiet man gasped and the white-haired pervert snickered wickedly. Sasuke held the redhead's arm to keep her from attempting to scratch Sakura's eyes out. Watching the situation go out of control, Sakura struggled to keep her Inner self from acting out against her wishes even more. She bit her tongue in frustration.

"Oh, I _like_ her, Sasuke," Suigetsu beamed. "Can we keep her?"

"Shut up, Karin," Sasuke ordered when the redhead's mouth opened again. With a sour look he shrugged the clinging woman off.

"Listen," Sakura's shoulders sagged and she held out her hand to the side in a 'no harm done' gesture. "I'm sorry. I can't help you. I'm leaving now. I have nothing more to say to you…except, I'm glad to see you're still alive, Sasuke-kun." Sakura made to pick up her baggage.

"The sword, Sakura," Sasuke warned.

Her heart sank. Sasuke wasn't going to just let go.

"Lying bitch! There's no way Konoha could find Itachi before me."

Sakura never took her eyes off her ex-teammate. "Is that what _she_ promised you, Sasuke-kun? That she would find Itachi for you? And you let her just lead you by your nose all over the place, didn't you? Did you make _special_ stops at romantic places, too?" She laughed at his sudden frown even as the knife twisted in her heart. "You did, didn't you? Was Itachi enjoying the scenic vistas with you? You've been out honeymooning before the wedding. While I, the one you left behind for being _weak _and _useless_, accomplished my mission without abandoning my home or my friends." Sakura's sad eyes hardened as she realized he wouldn't bother to answer her. She was never good enough in his eyes. She lifted the sharkskin sword to her shoulder.

"She's lying, Sasuke-kun! There's no way she could have found him or _any_ of them!"

"Shut up, dog-face! Pinky has the sword, doesn't she?" He blocked Sakura's path before she could get to her bags. "Give me that sword, honey, and I'll let you go in one piece."

She'd made a promise. She wasn't going to give up Kisame's sword and she didn't owe this crazy nin _anything_. "Fuck you, Sharky! I've had enough of you. I'm warning you to let me pass. I don't want to fight, but don't you underestimate me or you'll be sorry."

"Oh, yes," he growled in appreciation. "I will definitely be fucking you, Pinky. But first, I'm taking that sword before I make you scream my name." He dipped his sword at her in anticipation.

"Listen up, creep," she snarled. "I've already turned down that offer once today from a _much _better looking man." She gave Sasuke a withering glare. "Real, classy team you selected here, Sasuke." She took the huge sword in both hands and leaped back, flipping over. She landed the sword in the ground tip first, coming down behind it, her hands moving swiftly through the signs of the Kage Bunshin jutsu. Then, she jumped up and snagged the sword from the ground as her bunshin ran to her side.

"Oh, baby! _Two_ of you are double the fun," he gave that shit-eating grin. "I think a threesome is a great idea," he leered and flashed sharp teeth at her. "I gotta know…are you pink _everywhere_?"

"Eat this!" she yelled leaping at him with the huge sword in her hand. He met her halfway and parried the blow but the strike was only a diversion.

"Shannaro!" her bunshin hit the ground with her fist and the earth split. It caved in all around her and her bunshin, leaving them on solid ground. Sasuke, Karin and Juugo were forced to retreat far back to solid ground. Suigetsu lost his footing and had to compensate as the soil crumbled and the earth shook under his feet, but Sakura knew how to fight on this. These were her chosen grounds. She swung Samehada, connecting firmly with the sharp-tooth nin's body.

Knowing a little about Samehada's power, she half expected the battle to be over quickly with such a hard strike, but the little bastard simply turned to water and broke away from her. Samehada had taken a large bite of his chakra though and Sakura could feel the sword's joy thrumming through the pommel.

"Nice hit, baby. I'm gonna make you pay for that. You're not gonna be leaving my bed for a while," Suigetsu declared grimly.

She noticed he appeared a bit winded.

He swung at Sakura and she ducked, feeling a few stray pieces of hair that were cut from her head.

Sakura grit her teeth in frustration, "You sure know how to pick 'em, Sasuke-kun. This one's more perverted then Kakashi _and_ Jiraiya put together." They clashed and separated twice more while her clone repositioned itself for the next attack. "Who would have thought you enjoyed the company of perverts?" she goaded Sasuke, forgetting about her earlier plan of being polite and escaping quickly. "But, of course, you did pick the Snake Sannin, and we've all heard the rumors about him preferring _young boys_." She clashed once more with the Mist nin's sword. His last swing had jarred her arm something fierce. She needed to finish him quickly or he might wear her down enough where she would be forced to show her hand and call forth one of her wards. They, in turn, might harm Sasuke and that was the last thing she wanted. She wanted to scream. It was a no-win situation. If she showed Sasuke weakness, he would exploit it and if she showed her strength, he was sure to despise her.

All she could do was fight.

Sakura jumped out of the way of the water nin's sword, taking a ready stance as he lunged again. She met his swing with Samehada, twisting her sword when they hit to make his slide down to the right.

While her clone came up from the earth to hit him in the stomach with her inhuman strength.

She had hoped after the first hit, but wasn't sure he would do it again.

He did.

His middle turned to water around her fist, allowing it to go through him to avoid injury. Her bunshin used the opportunity to wrap herself around him fully and turn him around. His sword slid uselessly to the ground when her clone trapped his arms.

"I knew you wanted my body," he quipped, his liquid arm snaking around Sakura's bunshin before becoming solid and grabbing her ass to grind her against him.

Red-faced, Sakura took Samehada and slammed it sideways into both her clone and the water nin, sending them flying toward a large tree. The clone dispersed, feeding Samehada, leaving the shark boy to take the full brunt of the hit.

The tree broke in half when Suigetsu smashed into it. He let out a strangled half-laugh, half-scream, and slid to the ground grumbling something about innocent-looking girls.

Sakura stood tall, holding the sword out at her opponent. A gust of wind blew her hair off her shoulders, drawing Sasuke's attention to the collar at the back of her shirt.

"Enough," Sasuke said coldly from behind her, having noticed something new about Sakura. She turned to face him.

"I didn't start the fight, Sasuke. I was minding my own business. Tell your boy there to quit and I'll go." Sakura pointed to the guy rising a bit shakily to his feet. "I just want to get out of here."

"Just leave it to me, boss," Suigetsu assured him shakily. "I'll take care of this feisty one. I'll claim my sword _and_ her panties."

What the hell? This guy just didn't get it. "Ugh," she grunted at the pile of wasted water-nin. "Stop it already. You have to _earn_ these swords, you dummy!" She looked sideways at him and then Sasuke. "Did you _steal _that from Zabuza's _grave_?" Sakura asked, setting her sword back on her shoulder. She would not let it show, but between the traveling and the fight, she was nearly at her limit. If they found out, she was done for. She worked to keep her breathing steady and look like she could keep fighting all night. She resisted the urge to wipe the sweat from her brow and stared steadily at her opponent. Kisame surely had her respect for wielding the hungry, chakra-devouring sword.

"Juugo, take them and go make camp further on. I need to have a word with this…person."

"I won't leave you with this dirty whore, Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura laughed ironically in her head. 'Takes one to _think_ she knows one,' her Inner sneered. Sakura told her Inner to zip it before her smart mouth got them into more trouble.

Sasuke removed his sword, Kusanagi, from its scabbard.

'Great…just great,' she thought, 'I try to keep you alive and this is the thanks I get.'

"Leave us."

The girl squealed happily at the thought of Sasuke slicing the kunoichi in half. "Anything you say, Sasuke-kun. Show her no mercy." Karin grinned ferally. "You're gonna die now, stupid bitch!"

Juugo helped Suigetsu to his feet and picked up his sword, looking worriedly at the kunoichi. He knew as well as did Sasuke that she was tired, no matter how she pretended not to be. He hoped Sasuke could get the information he desired without killing her. She had done nothing to provoke the fight with Suigetsu and she had offered help finding Itachi.

Sakura turned her back fully on her ex-teammate and walked back to where she'd dropped her bags. She set down Samehada; she no longer had enough chakra to feed him for a proper fight anyhow. She would have to use her fists and her brains against Sasuke, not the huge sword.

'At least I stood up to and beat down the vulgar pervert,' she thought with a modest smile of satisfaction.

She picked up one of the canteens she had taken from the Akatsuki base and took a long pull from it.

Sasuke came up and took the canteen from her mouth, spilling the water over her chin and shirt.

"What the hell are you doing, Sasuke? I already told you that-"

He tossed the drink away, grabbed the front of her shirt and slammed her back into the nearest tree. She gasped in pain and he crushed her front, pinning her to the tree and pushing the air from her chest. His strikingly, handsome face glared down at her and her heart ached at the fury she saw in his fathomless eyes. She did not want to fight him, but she had to protect her charges. She forced chakra into her hand to push him away if he kept attacking her, but his next words disturbed her so much, the chakra dispersed.

Sasuke brought his face to her ear. His lips brushed the shell as he whispered, "You're_ pathetic_, Sakura."

His words hurt more than a kunai to the gut and she suddenly found herself blinking back hot tears.

The warmth of his breath gave her chills while his words made her stomach sink. "Do you really think a _weak,_ little girl like you should be _acting_ tough around powerful men, such as I?"

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A/N-Now I would consider _that_ a cliffie. Nice _long_ chapter and not even done yet.

Oh, and this was one of my favorite chapters to write. Last two times I updated I had over 1600 hits the first two days alone, wow. Could you imagine if everyone reviewed this story just once? I know it won't happen but I can dream. I am glad to have so many people from all over the world enjoying the story. That is so fricken cool!

K&K

Wanna see more?

Reviews=Love=Author's Inspiration=Faster Updates


	16. Chapter 16 Thorn in My Side

DNON

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A/N-Thanks to Sakura's Indecision for editing. Whew! This was a tough one!

You People! Holy wow! Ninety-five reviews last chapter! You guys Rock!

And lastly-Sandataba, lol, I gotta say, if this was a high school fic it would be more like Welcome Back (Mr.) Kotter or an AED-(adult education class) because most of these dudes are way to f-ing old for high school! They'd be all down at the school nurses' station everyday whining for their Geritol and Metamucil. BTW-the ending(s) of your last fic had me ROTFLMAO. Outstanding! I mean, damn, we all dream about that, but…

If you like Tenten, ya'll should check her fics out. Sandataba does her justice.

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Cat-O-Nine Tails by Kaze and Kiba

Chapter 16- Thorn in My Side

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After dark all cats are leopards – Native American Proverb

A cat bitten once by a snake dreads even rope – Arab Proverb

Often it is the most deserving people who cannot help loving those who destroy them-Hermann Hesse

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What in the hell had happened to Konoha's ethics?

Here was his former teammate, the weakest of them all, traveling alone in a hostile, foreign land with absolutely no one to watch out for her. She knew what he was capable of doing to his former companions. She had been there when he attempted to kill Naruto. How was it that she did not fear him? Sasuke grabbed her by her shirt collar and shoved her back into a tree, pressing his chest into her so she couldn't avoid him. He needed answers from her.

Internally, he was struggling with whether to strangle her or not. All other issues aside, her astute observations about his pursuit of his brother were just a little too close for his comfort. It rankled to see someone else put into words the feelings he'd been having these last few weeks. Not that he'd had much choice. His number one prospect to find Itachi had pouted and cajoled him every time he threatened _her_ with bodily harm for extending their travels. She had assured him again and again that they were close to finding him. Meanwhile, he was failing to accomplish _his_ mission.

And here was one more bit of truth that hit home; maybe the real reason he let the redhead waste his time was because, when it was finally over, there would be nothing left for him. Almost a third of his life was spent chasing a shadow and, once it was gone, what would be left?

Then in walks this little slip of a girl before the biggest, most important event of his life, and she holds undeniable proof that she's found what he's been seeking. But, instead of trusting him with that information like she would have in an instant when they were younger, now she clams up like he's her enemy.

How dare she?

How _dare_ she deny him the right to take his family's revenge? How_ dare_ she deny her feelings for him, refusing to tell him what _she knew_ he needed to hear? What had happened to the girl who followed him, cried for him, defended his right to do what he had to do? What happened to the sweet, little girl who would give her life to make him happy?

This wasn't her.

This wasn't real.

She was acting. It was all an act to show him that she could stand before him, but he knew her. He knew how to make her give him what he needed. No more protecting her. He couldn't afford to do it this time. He had to force her to his will.

And he knew exactly what to say to wound her most.

He didn't have to look in her eyes to know what they would show when he whispered in her ear. Or maybe he just couldn't look her in the eye _because_ he knew.

"_You're pathetic, Sakura." He paused to watch her tremble beneath him before twisting the knife to wound her soul. "Do you really think a weak, little girl like you should be acting tough around men such as I?"_

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She had to stop herself from sucking in her breath in surprise. Sasuke, the one she had just put her life on the line for, was calling her weak again, and it still hurt…badly. She wanted to hurt him back but she could not let him see just how much he still affected her.

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock when his next glance at his former teammate did not reveal a broken, crying Sakura, who was ready to beg him to forgive her and take her with him—instead, determined jade orbs flashed at him in challenge. Gone was the weak, defenseless, little girl he was forced to protect. In her place was a woman defying him openly and recklessly.

He nearly lost it.

His eyes slowly bled to red. Sakura avoided his gaze and he gave her a rough shake.

"Where did you get that sword?"

"You know I can't give out information on my current mission." She refused to meet his gaze, keeping her eyes downcast. "But if you want to accompany me to Konoha, I'm sure I can get the Hokage to fill you in and even give you the last known location of your brother from a _reliable_ source."

"I have my source for finding my brother."

"It _looks_ more like she's leading you around by the balls, taking forever to find Itachi and changing direction all the time." '_At least she's about to_,' she thought a bit wickedly. "Now go on your little quest. I have important work to do back in our village. My mission comes first."

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He held her against that tree, silently contemplating why, one minute he wanted to protect her from the lecherous hands of his teammate and the next he wanted to tear her to pieces for denying him his quarry.

"Who gave you these bruises on your neck?" He referred to the red, black and blue finger-shaped marks his brother had left that morning. Sasuke's voice became gruff, "And here?" He touched her through the mesh top of her shirt where, just above her covered breast, arched four black, oval-shaped bruises from Itachi's rough questioning in his bed. He stopped short of placing his palm over her aching breast as his aniki had only hours before. Although the contact did not bruise as his brother's had, his abusive demeanor demanded an answer to his query. She shuddered to think of his actions if he found out the truth too soon.

"It-ah, I-it's n-nothing, Sasuke." Her face was suddenly flaming, "Only a misunderstanding…during my mission."

"Mission, huh?" He pressed her into the rough bark of the tree, speaking softly but his actions were now cruel. "Where's your Leaf hitai-ate?"

He was so close to her she could feel every breath he took. The raw power of Sasuke made her heart twist. He was clearly angry but his unusual behavior was almost intimate and that scared her even more.

She turned her eyes away as his actions filled her heart with pain. She wondered if this might be a good time to call in reinforcements, but she worried whether Itachi would succeed in killing him this time. She couldn't take that chance…not until she was sure Itachi was under her control completely. She had to protect Sasuke.

"You_ know_ I can't tell you. S-class missions are for the Hokage's ears only."

"No distinguishing clothes, no hitai-ate, bags of stuff, and one missing nin's sword." His frustration was evident as he gestured to the spoils piled behind them. "How could one person steal all this? Were they already dead? How many of them did you come into contact with? How did you make it out alive? Where is Itachi? Tell me what you know."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sasuke. I already gave you the information I-"

He grabbed her shirt and pulled her to his face. He was done being gentle. He held her nose to nose, so he could look into her eyes and see if she lied

"Why are you dressed like this?" He shook her so hard her teeth rattled. His voice crackled with anger, "Where did you get _this_ _shirt_?"

"Shirt?" she looked confused, "What do you care where I got my shirt?"

"When the back of your shirt bears the mark of _my_ clan," his voice was low and dangerous,"_I_ have _every_ right to know."

"Clan?"

He picked her up to shake her again before turning and roughly shoving her front against the tree. He pulled her hair away from her neck and snatched up the shirt collar, choking her and tearing the shirt in the process. "This shirt was made for Uchiha Itachi," he growled. Eyes blazing with fury, he showed her the small uchiwa embroidered on the collar. "You are wearing my brother's clothes and you think_ I_ can't tell? Where did you get it?" It was impossible that she would run into Itachi and come out not only almost _completely_ unscathed but wearing his clothes and bearing suspicious marking on her body. A small voice inside his head whispered sex. She wouldn't. Sakura _couldn't_. Not with_ him_. Of all people, Sakura would have to know what that would do to him. "Did he _give_ it to you?"

"Um…" Shit! Think! "I, ah, ha…stole it? From the…um, Uchiha manor…because I'm a…fangirl?" God, that sounds so lame, she thought wincing. "I'm sorry, Sasuke. If I promise to put it back will you let me go?"

She was lying to him! Using her hair still held in his fist, he pulled her head back to yell in her face, but then he noticed something else unusual for Sakura.

The pink collar.

"Did your_ lover_ give you this, too?" He spat the words at her.

Sakura almost laughed out loud at his ridiculous accusation but his furious eyes froze her tongue. It was the second time in one day an Uchiha brother had insinuated the other brother was her lover. What was the matter with these men?

Her Inner interrupted her thoughts, "Sakura! Focus! Something's happening."

Sasuke pulled the end of her pink collar, loosening it just a bit.

"No! Don't touch that." She seized the hand that held her collar. She had to keep it on or her wards might find a way to escape. She wasn't sure what might happen to herself, either; the new moon had yet to be born. Would the spell be broken or would she turn back into a cat without it? She just didn't know.

"What the hell is this anyway?" Sasuke flicked the silent bell on her collar.

"Oh, you know." She tried to smile and it came off as a grimace. "It's the latest style in town. Everyone is wearing them," she lied badly.

"What does it say?" his eyes narrowed.

"Nothing!" She struggled against him in earnest. "You can't- please, Sasuke-kun, don't read it!"

Ignoring her plea, as usual, he roughly pulled her hair and captured her hands. Sasuke dragged her head back, reading the words on the collar.

"Your soul is tied to my heart."

Sakura groaned in exasperation and closed her eyes, "No, wait…stop," she said most _un_enthusiastically as she heard the familiar tone of the bell. Of course he would dismiss her warning—he was Uchiha Sasuke, after all. How dare she deny _him_ anything?

His Sharingan receded. Sasuke looked confused for a minute. He slowly shook his head, releasing her from his iron grip as the spell took effect, making him forget what he was doing. She could already feel new bruises forming along her arms and neck. At least he seemed to have forgotten about Itachi's shirt. She sighed in relief.

"So, you…don't know where my brother is?" he asked one last time, trying to remember exactly why he had waylaid her.

"Sasuke-kun," she whispered, wiping an errant tear from her cheek. "At this moment, I have no idea of the exact location of any member of Akatsuki. That is all I can say. Does that help?" Technically, it was true.

"If you lie to me, I will find you and kill you."

"Well, then you can do us both a favor and you might just be saving the world." He looked puzzled at her mysterious words, but she knew he would not clearly remember these moments after the spell. "Just, please, don't bring your _friends _along to watch. It's the least I deserve."

He finally stepped back, his dark eyes distrustful.

"Now, if you're finished threatening me, I need to get inside Fire's border before I stop and sleep tonight. You're welcome to come back to Konoha with me. If not, I'll tell Naruto you said hello."

"Hn. I'm not coming back till I do what I said…maybe not even then."

"Yes, whatever you say, _dear_." She was tired of his childishness and, now that he was under her spell, she knew what was going to happen. He would come for her soon. He was too distrustful a man not to come once the spell stopped befuddling him. His team would ask him questions he had no answer to. She needed to put some distance between them before he realized she had left _all_ his questions unanswered. "Take care, Sasuke. Your team is waiting for you." Trying to hide her shaky hands, she put on the puppet master's gear and slung the two heavy bags over her shoulder. She took the sword last, laying it gently on her shoulder.

"Was it a good fight?" he asked, indicating the sword.

Now he believed her? When it was too late, of course. She shook her head softly. All he cared about was fighting everything.

"You know something, Sasuke-kun? No one is all bad. I've learned that recently." She chuckled ironically. "Well, except maybe, Orochimaru, but you would be a better judge of him then me. See ya soon, Sasuke-kun." She turned and swiftly sped into the gathering darkness towards Fire Country.

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Sasuke watched his ex-teammate as she took off into the forest with a feeling of regret. He was sure there was something he had forgotten to ask her, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Hardly a wonder with all that had happened here. He felt his emotions struggling to come to the surface and he crushed them down. It was Suigetsu and Karin with all their foolish behavior that had prevented him from getting what he needed from the girl—the girl who would have once done anything for him.

She had been trying to tell him something. Then, with Karin calling her names and taunting Sakura, and Suigetsu coming on to her relentlessly, she had immediately raised her guard. Sasuke would have stopped it himself if she had not come to her own defense. He had almost lost it when Suigetsu took every opportunity to touch Sakura. The only thing that kept him from tearing Suigetsu's hands off was Karin's talons gripping his arm, holding him back. Sasuke found out firsthand that the girl he and Naruto had to keep alive again and again had finally become able to defend herself.

He wasn't sure he liked that.

She had grown into a lovely woman on the outside and the look in her eyes told him she had toughened up…finally. But he was sure she still had a soft spot where he was concerned and he would use it to get what he wanted. He was half tempted to follow after her. If Karin's tracking proved inaccurate on this journey, he decided he would go back to Konoha and find out what information the Hokage had for him. He had seen in her clear, green eyes that she was truthful about that.

Sasuke found his team in the next clearing. However, after listening to Karin bitch about him talking to Sakura alone and then telling him that she felt a form of Itachi's chakra—albeit an extremely weak form—retreating back the way they had just come, he felt even more restless. Hadn't Sakura just told him that this would happen? Either Karin was lying to spend more time by his side again or Sakura was lying…for what reason, he couldn't be sure.

Who was more trustworthy?

Sasuke decided that concrete answers lay with Sakura and he was going to get them. He told Taka to make camp and continue on their same route for the next few days if he didn't return by morning. Karin started to ask a million questions and Suigetsu taunted her, saying that Sasuke was going back to get a little more sugar from the smokin' hot kunoichi, and of course that started a whole new battle between the two. Sasuke finally told them to shut up. Then, he left them like he usually did. He had no desire to make small talk around a fire. He had no use for _friends_ and he didn't want them to interfere with what he was about to do. What he did want was to find out what Sakura's mission had been. Why was she alone? He knew he could use her feelings for him to get her to talk.

'I am going to use any means to get information out of her. If I have to beat it out of her or bring her into my Sharingan, then so be it,' he resolved stubbornly, refusing to admit he had even an ounce of sentiment for the green-eyed woman.

He raced to catch up to her while he could still feel her faint chakra receding. She moved fast and kept ahead of him for a while. Then he felt it. Though still mostly shielded, the chakra signatures from before were joining her one after another.

She had lied to him, he was sure of it now.

His anger flared. He blocked his chakra and followed them half the night to the border of Fire. There they hid all signs of themselves and he had to follow them even more stealthily.

They finally stopped about ten miles inside Fire's border. Sasuke crept to within five hundred yards of her camp when he started to feel strange.

His heart was racing and he felt dizzy. Maybe Sakura had poisoned him when he touched her earlier, he reflected, stumbling closer to the camp. That's why he felt confused before and let her leave without giving him answers. Damn it! He could barely hold his head up.

'Maybe if I just rest here for a second,' he thought. Sasuke half fell, half slid to sit on the ground at the base of a tree.

He passed out.

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	17. Chapter 17 Waking Up to Reality

DNON

Co9t

Chapter 17-Waking Up to Reality

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A/N-Thanks, Sakura's Indecision, for another wonderful edit. Here's another long chapter for you all. And go check out my new 'cat-captured' picture from the link on my Profile Page. You might notice there is no more space with Sakura's newest acquisition. I hope the pictures help you visualize my story better. Enjoy the new chapter.

Also-I was pleasantly surprised by the kitty episode on Naruto last week. Hehe, I felt like they did that one just for my story, lol. Not really, but it was a funny coincidence that Sasuke is wearing kitty ears right after I have Sakura turning him into a cat in my story. Ahaha, so cute! I love it.

K&K

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Sasuke had a dream.

He dreamed he was stalking Sakura and his brother across Fire Country. But when he came to the campsite after catching up to them, only Sakura was there with a bunch of…cats.

She sat by herself, leaning back against a fallen tree, staring at the flames of a campfire. The golden-orange glow of the small fire lit the kunoichi's pale skin. In the soft light, her fatigued eyes looked luminescent—glowing almost like a cat's in the near dark. She glanced up when he deliberately stepped on a twig, snapping it. She smiled bitterly in greeting.

"Way to go, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said derisively. "You're the man…er, well, cat."

"What a _stupid_ dream," he murmured looking at his feet—no, paws—curiously.

"Oh, this is no dream, Sasuke-kun. I _told _you," she began, poking a stick restlessly into the fire. "No. I _asked_ you to listen to me, but you ignored what I had to say. You just _had_ to push me around. You just _had _to stick your nose _right_ into my business and show me who's the man. Baka!" She exhaled in disgust. "You reap what you sow, mister!"

"Foolish little brother," the dark-furred, long-tailed cat by Sakura's side added, surprising the fuzzy new acquisition. "She kindly warned you many times to leave her alone."

Sasuke jumped, his already gravity defying, downy black fur rose higher on his back at the sound of his brother's voice coming from the other black cat.

"Nii-san…? Sakura, what the hell is going on?"

"You know, Sasuke, you went and picked up that, that…_fangirl _to find Itachi for you and she dragged you all over the place. When I left Konoha for my mission, it only took me three days to find Itachi from _reliable_ Konoha intel. You should have stayed home and trusted in your _real_ friends to help you. Now you are stuck like that."

"You can't possibly mean…"

Sakura stood up and threw her stick into the fire before walking over to kneel next to him.

"Ok. Here's what I told _them_." She hooked a thumb behind her toward the unusual line of cats sitting around the campfire. "Uchiha Sasuke, you have been put under a spell, _by your own actions_," she added heatedly, "that can only be broken by me or Tsunade. If the spell is broken before your sentence is up in three years, you will retain that adorable form for the rest of your days." Sasuke scoffed and Sakura smiled at him sweetly and mockingly. "_A definite improvement I might add_. In that time if you stray more than ten miles from _me,_" she tilted his furry, little chin up to look in his eye, "your _mistress_," she said slowly, in a sultry voice, "you, my dear Sasuke-kun, will also have the same fate. If I die before your time is served, you will have to remain a cat forever."

He pulled back from her. "As if."

"Come here," she ordered and he moved to evade her hand, forcing her to grab him by the scruff of the neck. She put him in her lap and slid a red collar into place over his head. Then she deposited him back on the ground before he could even get one good scratch in.

'Only one left,' she mused, pushing the last collar back into her pocket.

"You must be kidding," Sasuke growled, trying to pry the offensive collar off his neck.

"I _wish_ I were," she moaned, putting her hand to her head. "This was not supposed to happen. The change of the moon should have been the end of Baa-chan's spell, but apparently you caught the _tail_ end of it, _pun intended_." Sakura bubbled up with sudden laughter and fell back next to him with a sigh of relief.

'Sasuke is finally coming home,' she laughed softly to herself. "Neko-baa-chan told me that when I captured Itachi, it would draw you safely back home," she told Sasuke quietly, "but I'm sure she didn't intend this." Sakura sat up and looked at her obstinate teammate's adorable new form. "It's your own fault, you stubborn asshole. You couldn't just take my word that Konoha had important news about your brother. Since when have I ever lied to you, Sasuke? You let that idiot fight me, and as if that wasn't enough, then you had to bully me yourself."

"You were dressed in my brother's clothes," he accused.

"I had no other choice." A sudden yawn cracked her jaw wide. The effects of the day were crashing in on her. "Itachi tore my shirt off, so I had to borrow his." Sakura informed him with a straight face. She pulled out the blanket she took from Itachi's bed. The sudden need for sleep washed over her.

Her words incensed him. He glanced over at Itachi, whose smug gaze gave away nothing. "You could have told me…"

"_Bullshit!_ You didn't listen! I tried to tell you we had intel on Itachi and you shoved me around and treated me like I was your enemy! Just shut up, Sasuke, and let me get some sleep. You have no idea the hell I've been through."

'All for you,' she added silently to herself.

"My sword," Sasuke began.

Sakura sighed and decided she doing entirely too much of that since Sasuke found her today.

"How far away from here did you alter your form?"

"A quarter mile or so."

"Fine." She got up and dropped her blanket onto the log. "Lead the way, but _don't you dare_ talk to me anymore tonight or I'll leave your precious katana there to rust."

She followed the younger Uchiha through the darkness. They had to walk because she had no energy left to run or use the trees. She stumbled over roots and was swatted by low-hanging branches. She was just way too tired to be doing this crap right now. Samehada had taken the bulk of her chakra and running to stay ahead of Sasuke burned up the rest. Finally, they made it back to the place where Kusanagi lay next to the tree. She took the scabbard and slung it over her shoulder and went back to the fire as quickly as possible.

"Kisame. Sasori. Take the first watch and switch out every three hours. Itachi, stay next to me. I can't have you getting mauled by the new wildcat over there. Hidan, stay _away_ from me. If you mess with me, you are wolf food. In fact, feel free to leave the group and _never_ return. And, Sasuke, if you cause me any problems on this trip," she warned, "I swear when I get back, I will give you to Madame Shijimi as a pet and that's a _promise_." They both knew of the Daimyo's wife's penchant for hugging her cats practically to death. One of their first missions had been chasing Tora, one of her runaway felines.

"That reminds me. So you know, none of you will be tortured or put into cages once we are in Konoha unless you don't abide by the rules. The Hokage has a plan and, if you agree and serve your time without causing trouble, you will be treated well. You will not reveal your identities to anyone by talking or you_ will_ have your human voices removed_ permanently_." Sakura lay back in exhaustion. "Goodnight."

The kunoichi's eyes closed in slumber before her head hit the ground. She had to start trusting them sometime. If they wanted to kill her in her sleep, she thought, then more power to them.

Sasuke counted the number of ex-nin cats languidly surrounding the clearing. All sizes, shapes, and colors of sharp-eyed cats stared back at the now _ex_-avenger. He had heard rumors of Sakura's defeat of the Akatsuki named Sasori of the Red Sands but, as he expected, they were false—if the Sasori she had ordered on watch was the same she had supposedly killed. She must have been working with some powerful ninja to have captured this many Akatsuki. He wondered why her team had left her alone with all these men. They could be dangerous even if they were trapped as cats. She had mentioned going through hell, perhaps the rest were dead. He wondered if Naruto and Kakashi had been with her.

"Sakura captured…_all_ of you?" Sasuke asked in disbelief, "By herself?"

"You too, stupid, hn," Deidara scoffed. "At least it took her a month to catch us. You were like, what, a whole five minutes, yeah? She begged you not mess with her, but you were all over her like she was a bitch in heat."

"I say we kill the bitch now," Hidan hissed. "Ow!"

Kakuzu smacked him again. "Don't be hasty, idiot. If what she says is true, it will end our human lives."

He turned to Itachi. "_Idiot,_ here, and I will take the next watch. Deidara and Tobi, the last. Itachi-san, if Idiot or your otooto get near Haruno, _kill_ _them_." He made eye contact with each to show he was completely serious. "Nobody touches her until we find out the whole story." He looked around and everyone but Hidan and Sasuke nodded in agreement.

Kisame and Sasori faded into the darkness and the rest came near the fire to absorb some warmth. They had been running all day and were not yet used to their new forms. Itachi curled up in the crook between Sakura's arm and side and laid his head against Sakura's chest, watching his little brother to see his reaction. Kakuzu lay at her feet. Deidara curled up close against her other side and Tobi, who was being unusually silent, rested just below him.

Sasuke sat a few feet away watching his brother lying intimately close to Sakura. He doubted she noticed, having fallen asleep, but still it irked him to see Itachi claiming possession of his former teammate.

"What's your relationship with her?"

"What's the matter, otooto?" Itachi purred. "Jealous? Maybe you would like to know who put those bruises all over her body…even in places you have not seen."

"Tch," Sasuke scoffed.

"When I found her in my bed this morning, I just couldn't keep my hands off of her." Itachi's long black tail flicked across Sakura's jaw in a caress and she sighed softly in her sleep. "She was right. I did tear her clothes off." Itachi bared his teeth at the younger Uchiha. "She's quite striking, as you can see. Cunning, too. To think you would be so careless as to push a teammate with such…_attributes_, away from you, Sasuke-kun. I only regret that Sakura and I were interrupted." Itachi's double meanings were lost on Sasuke, but the idea of Sakura in Itachi's bed clearly riled him. Sasuke moved farther away from the main group who were surrounding his former teammate. The hair rose on his back in irritation and he could tell Itachi was smirking at him. He was angry that she seemed so comfortable around the other men.

Hidan sat on the other side of the fire, the farthest away from Sakura. When he finally dozed off, he talked in his sleep, complaining about pink-haired monsters and how he could kill them. He spent the night dreaming happily about sacrificing her to Jashin and all the ways he would use to draw out the painfulness of her death.

At first, Sasuke agreed with the dreamer. He wanted to kill not only Itachi, but Sakura, too, for doing this to him. But the longer he listened to the creep talking about mutilating Sakura in such precise and cruel ways, the more it cooled his temper. Had she really spent a month living with these men?

Sakura could have just killed these guys as soon as she captured them, but she hadn't. Instead, she had inadvertently given Sasuke his chance for revenge. First, he had to get Neko-baa-chan to reverse this spell.

He was also mad at his team. If Karin had _not _led him around on a wild goose chase these last few months, if she had found Itachi faster after their first battle when Itachi had removed the curse seal from him, this whole business could have been avoided. If Suigetsu hadn't challenged Sakura and kept alluding to having sex with her, Sasuke wouldn't have lost his temper with her when she started throwing insults at him.

He didn't know why it made him angry, but the thought of Suigetsu wanting to screw Sakura… It was probably just the way she talked back to Suigetsu and him that made Sasuke lose his temper. She had never been so disrespectful to _him_ before.

It would have been better if he had sent his team away from the beginning, then she might have told him more of her real mission. She used to trust him and he probably could have pried the info from her with just a promise to return to Konoha. Whether it was a lie or not wasn't his problem.

Even though Sasuke could actually see better in the dark now than before he had changed form, he tried over and over to activate his Sharingan to see if his kin's ocular powers still worked—but it wouldn't budge. Itachi seemed to have some control over his because Sasuke could see hints of it shining through the darkness. He wondered if it had been activated when Sakura trapped Itachi. He stared at his evasive brother and his tail twitched. Itachi lay contented, curled against Sakura's breast. It burned him to no end to see her allowing him touch her like that. Itachi knew it, too—the smug look on his face told Sasuke so.

The fire crackled down to deep red embers before the two sentries came back to wake their replacements. Sasuke was surprised to see almost all of them being so protective of Sakura after what she had done to them. At first, he thought it might be part of the spell, but he felt no real loyalty to her from it and neither did the silver cat who was constantly threatening to kill her. Before he settled down, the largest cat—Itachi's partner no doubt—dragged in a few thick sticks and brush to keep the fire from going out. It was a cold night. There were no clouds so the stars shone bright in the moonless sky. Sasuke could see the first sparkle of frost on the brush outside of the fire's temperate reach. Sakura hadn't moved at all and, if he couldn't see the gentle rise and fall of her chest beneath Itachi's chin, he would have thought her lifeless. Her luminous skin was brushed by the warm light of the dying fire and her hair glowed like the sunset against her face. Encircled as she was by various, exotic-looking felines, she looked more like a girl from some dark fairy tale awaiting a knight's kiss than a battle-hardened kunoichi coming home from war.

It was unusual to see her so still. She had always been one to fidget while camping on Team Seven missions—both her and Naruto were always rolling into him, mumbling in their sleep and waking him up. The only time she had been this immobile was that one time when she was wounded.

Well, he thought, she had been hauling around some heavy bags and weapons when he found her and she had fought admirably against Suigetsu. She was probably exhausted.

She had to be at her strength's end to trust these nin enough to sleep with them around. They were an organization that had no compunction killing not only clans, but whole villages of people. Of course, she had spent a whole month with them, the one had said—how in the hell had she survived it? How had she joined them? And why had Kakashi and Naruto let her go on a suicide mission like that? What was going on back in Konoha? He had only seen the current Hokage, Tsunade, a few times, but he thought he had heard that Sakura was her favorite apprentice. If she sent people she _liked_ on suicide missions, what would she do to people she didn't like—like missing nin?

He had also heard of Tsunade's legendary temper.

His curiosity finally got the better of him.

"How did she capture you all?"

"She…made herself useful," Kisame answered, lying down in an open spot next to the girl. "She found a need we had, and she filled it."

Seduction mission? "_A _whore?" he hissed.

"Foolish little brother. Don't judge the kunoichi by the standards of those _you_ have chosen to travel with. Even with the Copy Nin as your teacher, you did not learn to look underneath the underneath? Anyone around Sukoshi for more than five minutes could tell she is innocent."

Sasuke looked hesitant. Just what game was his brother playing? Had the two become so friendly that Itachi would give Sakura a pet name? The mere thought of them being together galled him.

"Although," the black cat grinned while taunting him, "_that _status was nearly reversed when I found her curled in my bed this morning," Itachi's tail flicked sideways. "I must say, though—I found her kisses rather…sweet."

"Me, too," Deidara trilled, his two large, golden, front paws standing on Sakura's hip as he joined the taunting. "I loved the way she licked my neck." Blue eyes glinted mischievously at the wide, outraged eyes of the younger Uchiha.

"Me, three," Kisame added. "She was very sweet."

"She fucking kissed you? She never kissed me!" Hidan caterwauled.

"That's because you kept trying to kill her, asshole."

"Yeah! And look where we are now."

"Because you failed miserably, genius," Sasori hissed. "S-Class and couldn't even take out a damned, little-"

"I almost killed her," Hidan protested. "If Uchiha hadn't taken her into his bed every night and fucking healed her-"

Sasuke growled and left the clearing.

"Don't forget her warnings, little brother…unless you want to stay that way forever." Satisfied chuckling followed Sasuke from the clearing. Now that they had sufficiently teased the resentful young cat, the rest settled down and two more left to go keep watch.

Sasuke couldn't believe what he had heard. Would Sakura actually try to seduce that many dangerous ninja? The Sakura he had known would never have tried to seduce _anyone_. Yet, in only a month, she had managed to do this? He knew they were mocking him, but he could hear the truth in their words as well.

He needed to get more of this story. The problem was, Sakura was too mad to talk to him about it.

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K&K


	18. Chapter 18 The Long Road Home

DNON

A/N-Thank you Sakura's Indecision for editing for me, you always do a great job. K&K

Cat-o-Nine Tails by Kaze and Kiba

Chapter Break 18-The Long Road Home

****The opposite of love is not hate; it's indifference.** -**Elie Wiesel

Whenever the cat of the house is black, the lasses of lovers will have no lack.-folk saying.

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The grey mist lightened and, as dawn approached, Hidan began to wake everyone up with his sniveling. Sakura lay quietly—still immobile after sleeping the night through.

"Oi! Why isn't she up yet? I'm hungry."

"She has always been weak." Sasuke voice was filled with contempt.

"Foolish boy. I'd take one puppet of that child with her attributes and work ethic over two of you any day," Sasori hissed. "Such vanity comes with the Uchiha name," he added mumbling.

"Listen up, Twerp," Kisame chimed in. "Go eat some field mice if you're starving, 'cause she won't be rising anytime soon."

"No way I'm eating _that_ furry shit!" Hidan whined, "Get up, Bitch!"

"The first time I used Samehada in a fight, I couldn't move for two days and I have much more chakra than that little girl. Samehada sucks a massive quantity chakra both from the opponent and its wielder."

"You're fucking kidding me?" Hidan cocked his ears forward as lavender eyes grew large in disbelief. "So we gotta sit here a couple of _days_ and wait for her to wake up?"

"Actually, you little jerk," the pink-haired kunoichi answered his query, "I was only gonna lie here another hour or so, but if it will make you _shut up,_ I'll get up now."

Itachi watched the conflict from his nice, warm spot next to Sakura. He knew she would be rising soon from the change in her breathing a few minutes before, but he was fascinated watching his little brother, who had been staring at him for the past hour. It had been years since he'd seen Sasuke so at a loss for what to do. He wondered what Neko-baa-chan would have to say about this twisted turn of events. Knowing her, she would probably find the idea of both of them being in this position quite entertaining. He rose, stretched and slunk with feline grace closer to the fire.

The largest of the cats walked up to check on Sakura.

"Awake already, kitten?" Kisame grinned his sharp teeth at her spunk. She must be feeling pretty used up, he thought. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I drank about five bottles of that good sake Tsunade keeps for dignitaries."

Kisame laughed heartily. "Oh, yes. Sammy can make you feel like that, but there's nothing better than the power Samehada brings to a fight."

"I agree. That was pretty amazing." Sakura dragged her hand through her hair and rubbed her eyes. "I can see why you keep Samehada close."

"Don't push yourself, kitten." Kisame warned, seeing her start to rise.

"Don't you worry about me, Kisame-san." Green chakra began to glow around Sakura as she eased the aches enough to get on with her day. She got up and rationed out some of the food she had taken from the base.

"Kunoichi, you need more of that then us. You have the bulk of the work."

"I'll be fine with this," she nibbled on some dried fruit and beef.

"You could change one of us back to help you carry the load," Sasori slyly advised, his flicking tail giving away his devious intentions.

Sakura shook her head. "The _only_ one of you I _might_ have trusted before was Sasuke." She paused to eye the scruffy black cat with his back purposefully turned to them. "But he wouldn't lift a finger for someone as _weak_ as me," she said mordantly. She was satisfied that he heard her admonishment when she saw his ear twitch.

One thing she definitely liked about these guys being cats was the way their emotions were displayed in their natural feline mannerisms. But, of course, she wasn't about to tell_ them_ that. As she ate, she watched Itachi for signs that his illness was bothering him, but he seemed to be doing well. She also wondered about the man named Tobi. The unknown Uchiha hadn't spoken a word since they left the Akatsuki base and the change from his flamboyant character to this somber silence spoke volumes to her about what he might be thinking or plotting. This was the man she feared the most out of them all. Something else crossed her mind.

"Deidara-san, could you come here a moment?"

The large orange and white was in her lap in a flash, stroking her chin with his long, fluffy tail. She laughed, pushing it out of her face.

"Sit, please."

He flopped down on his side playfully and rolled partially on his back.

"I was wondering, Deidara-san, if your paws were bothering you?"

"No. Why?"

"May I?" She wanted to touch his feet. He stuck them out to her and she took one front paw between her fingers, examining it.

"The mouths are gone. Since it's a bloodline trait, I thought they might still be there, making it hard for you to walk." She inspected his paws closely. "But, look here. You've got an extra toe on both front feet. How unusual." She stroked his foot and he purred at her, his large blue eyes shining eagerly reminded her of Naruto. "You're very sweet." She giggled at his good-natured attitude.

Hidan began cursing.

"Grump's right. We need to leave." She gently pushed Deidara out of her lap.

She kicked her heel on the ground. The forest floor shook a bit before the fire and the earth around it sank into a pit—the result of her chakra-laced stomp. The dirt piling on top of the blaze put out the fire with a minimum of smoke.

She strapped on Sasori's puppets and hefted all the bags before lifting Samehada to her shoulder again.

"Let's get moving. Keep your chakra signatures blocked. I don't want to run into any patrols—I don't feel like making up stories today." She looked around, counting to make sure everyone was there. "Let's go."

They travelled until midmorning before they paused. Hidan whined so much it was a wonder he could keep up, having used all his oxygen to complain. Sakura found a stream and told them to rest while she refilled the canteens and they all sated their thirst.

"Ok, let's speed up a little. I want to be back in Konoha in three or four days. We have to stay off the main roads so it will be a bit harder, but I have confidence we can keep up a fairly quick pace."

"Forget it, you stupid girl," Hidan complained. "I'm tired and hungry and I wanna take a nap."

Tired of hearing Hidan's never-ending grievances, Sakura picked up him up and stuffed him into one of the sacks she carried. She closed it so she could no longer hear more than his faint, muffled cries.

"There! That's much more pleasant. Anyone else too tired?" she asked sweetly. "Sasuke-kun? Feeling _weak_?"

He ignored her. She turned and left the stream as quickly as possible with her heavy load.

The others followed her in silence.

The odd little group jogged on until dusk. Sakura's leg muscles were quivering by the time she stopped for the night. She dropped the packs and lay atop one of the money bags, using it as a pillow. She sat up quickly when it began to move crazily.

She let the violet-eyed, yowling, silver cat out of the bag—trying not to laugh at the cliché or the harried feline who was cursing at her crudely enough to make a sailor blush.

Once he was back on solid ground, Hidan became unusually quiet. He saw her trying not to laugh. He didn't think it was funny that she'd carried him the whole way, but he wisely kept his mouth shut—she might change her mind and put him back in the dark bag.

Sakura pulled out dry rations and split them up.

"I know a small village a few hours from here. Tomorrow, when we stop midmorning, I will go in and buy something better to eat. Kakuzu, I'll be using some of your money to purchase food. I will replace it when we reach Konoha."

Kakuzu nodded his head. Sakura figured, with his fondness for capital, it would be prudent to let him be privy to whatever happened to the money she carried.

"Ok, guys. Same shift for watch. No fire tonight. No fires till we get back home." Well, she thought, it was her home and now their home, too—for the next three years anyhow. "We'll be traveling at night starting tomorrow to avoid any unnecessary contact with others." Without another word Sakura drifted off to sleep. The cats resumed their posts from the previous night, curling up with Sakura, all except Hidan—who was still feeling the sting of her earlier retribution—and Sasuke. He refused to lie next to Sakura and curled up instead on one of the bags, so he didn't have to lie on the cold ground.

Sasuke began to understand why the rest were huddled with Sakura to share warmth. It irritated him that the cold ground bothered him so much. Cold or heat had never really bothered him before. He sat watching the claws emerge and retract on his paw. Not much of a weapon for what he intended. He sighed. It was still like a dream, no, nightmare, really. Itachi was three feet from him. He could reach out and touch the man who had murdered his entire clan and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. And Itachi seemed so peaceful. Why was he so calm about all this? How could he feel so little? How was it possible? Sasuke himself had trained for years to push away all feelings and still, right now, his brain was a mess of conflicted emotions.

What was Sakura doing with Itachi and how had she found him? Where was the rest of Team Seven? The team he remembered would never have let her take on such a mission by herself. How was it possible she was still alive?

Sasuke had heard she was apprenticed to the Godaime and that she had become a talented healer. Maybe she had offered to heal Itachi's eyes in order to be accepted to the Akatsuki organization. Itachi's eyes surely must be in a worse state than his. Sasuke's own Sharingan had been strained since his last battle with his brother, but if she had healed Itachi that would make her a traitor to Konoha, too. That didn't seem possible, though. One thing Sakura had always been was loyal. Sasuke couldn't bring himself to believe she would ever betray Konoha.

They spent the day traveling through Fire Country. They made few stops and went out of their way to avoid any people that might've crossed their paths. Sakura picked little-used trails that were rough with brush and choked with trees. Sasuke and the rest had to work hard to keep up with her. Normally, she would be the one lagging given her stamina and height, but in their present form, she had the height advantage over them. Nevertheless, they had the benefit of being able to dart through many places she had to go over or around. By the time night fell, they all collapsed, exhausted and ready for sleep.

The next morning, Sakura woke feeling even more tired than the previous day. Her muscles ached from overexertion and the cold. She was glad they were in Fire Country—even with this time of year, it was warmer here than many places. It also cut down the chance of running into enemy ninja that might confront her. Well, at least more enemy then she already had to deal with. She looked over at Sasuke all by himself, curled into a fluffy, black ball. 'Poor thing,' she mused. If she gave into her impulses, she knew she would pick him up, squeeze him and squeal over just how cute and soft he was as a cat, but she knew he wouldn't be happy about that. She decided to let him have some space…for now. It was his fault that he'd been caught, but he would have to learn to deal with it. She knew he had been desperate to find Itachi—it was his goal for nearly half his life. He had to be confused and angry by the events of the last twenty-four hours.

She handed out the last of the rations without comment and loaded up all the heavy gear on her back.

"You know, kitten, it would really be easier if you would let one of us help you," Kisame said while watching her load up her heavy gear once more.

She turned back and looked at him, sighing.

"If someone saw me with wanted Akatsuki criminals or a missing nin," she nodded at Sasuke, "I could be tried for treason. No one knows you're here. Let's just go. I can pick up a few supplies when we get to Nannari-toshi and then we can rest till dusk." Turning toward the silver cat and grinning impishly, Sakura said, "Hidan, are you fully rested or do you need another ride?"

"Shut up, stupid, fucking kunoichi." Hidan gave her a wide berth.

She turned and started off through the trees, traveling a roundabout path to stay away from anyone who may be traveling the main routes.

True to her word, four hours later and they'd reached Nannari-toshi, a small, nondescript village. They went a half mile past it before Sakura found some very dense brush to hide their gear. She told the Akatsuki cats to stay with the bags while she went to the village. She asked Sasuke to come with her.

"Why?" he argued. "It's not like I can carry anything."

"Look, the last thing I want to come back to is a cat war between you and those guys. I want you to come with me so I can be sure I'm not followed when I leave the village. Is that too much to ask? If it is, I'm sure Itachi wouldn't mind coming with me in your stead."

"Tch. I'll come," he spat irritably.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

They walked through the woods in silence for a while, until Sasuke said, "Sakura?"

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?" She was surprised that he actually deigned to speak to her.

"Why did you take that mission…to capture Itachi?"

"I think maybe you already know why, Sasuke-kun, but I can't give you details about my mission. I wasn't lying about what I said before, you know. If you had gone back to Konoha the Hokage would have told you about Itachi's capture without arresting you. You just refused to listen to me."

"Hn."

"Are you ok, Sasuke? I know it's an odd feeling. Have you…adjusted yet?"

He ignored her questions. "Where is the rest of Team Seven? Dead?"

"Actually, there is no Team Seven anymore, Sasuke. When you left, Naruto went with Jiraiya and Kakashi went back to solo missions. But the others, they're fine. Either back in the village or on missions of their own."

"Do they know about this mission?"

"No."

Silence reigned as they neared the small town. Just before Sakura left the trees to travel the road, Sasuke stopped her.

"Before you enter the village you…should probably heal some of those bruises on your neck and…" he hesitated, cleared his throat, and added, "…and wherever else you have them."

"Eh, you're right. I was in such a hurry to get away that I'd forgotten about them. Thanks." Hands lit with the cooling green light of Sakura's chakra ran down her neck and body. Sasuke looked away after a few seconds, not wanting to see just how far down she needed to heal herself from, not only his, but also Itachi's assault. He found that he didn't like to think about what Itachi might have done to her.

0o0o0

Sasuke kept to the shadows as Sakura came from the forest. When Sakura strolled into the village, she received a few odd looks. It wasn't that they had never seen an attractive girl before, but one with sleep-tousled, pink hair and dressed in form-fitting shorts and torn shirt, kind of stood out.

"Hey there, honey." Three men sauntered up to her in a friendly manner as she paced the boardwalk toward the business district. "How about we go have a drink or two?"

"Ah, no thank you. I'm meeting someone and I don't wish to be late," she said politely before walking into a small food stall that Kakashi had taken her, Naruto and Sai to when they were on a mission about six months back. The food was great and inexpensive, just what she needed. She ordered nine bento from a very surprised woman behind the counter. Paying, Sakura informed her she'd be back in a few minutes to pick them up.

Next, she went to the little grocery across the street and picked up some dried fruits, nuts, and beef and fish jerky—enough to last a few more days. When she came out of the store, she saw Sasuke sitting at the edge of the block near the men who had spoken to her earlier. She took her purchases and walked back to the food stalls.

Just before she went into the building, a streak of black stopped in front of her.

"Sasuke-kun? What's wrong?"

"Find a different exit from here," he spoke quietly, looking all around them.

She bent down, petting him so they could continue talking. "Why?"

"Those three are planning on delaying you," Sasuke said as he involuntarily leaned into her hand as she scratched behind his ears.

"Delaying me…for what?" She didn't think it looked like she carried a great deal of money, but perhaps they had seen her purchase supplies and thought they could rob her.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and cursed. It was a terribly odd expression for a cat.

"Never mind," she decided not to argue. "I'll go out the back. Meet me there."

He left as quickly as he came.

On the counter waiting for her were nine neatly-tied, plain balsa wood bento boxes, all stacked together with a bag of chopsticks on top. The smell was enough to make Sakura's mouth water. Thanking the lady, she collected the boxes.

"Do you need some help with that dear? I could send my son with you, if you'd like," the owner smiled helpfully.

"No. I can handle them," Sakura shook her head before inquiring if there was a different way out of the shop.

"Is something wrong, dear?"

"Not really. There were just these…rather insistent men out front that I don't know and I wanted to avoid them."

"Say no more. You should go out the back if you're uncomfortable. Are you sure you couldn't use an escort?"

"No. I have friends waiting for me outside town."

"Ok. Come this way then."

Sakura followed her to the back of the kitchen. The lady held the door for her.

"Thank you. Please come again."

"Yes, I will. Domo arigato gozaimasu."

As soon as the door closed, Sasuke came out from behind the garbage bins.

They quickly made their way down the side streets to the edge of town. They were just about to enter the forest, when Sakura heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, baby. You weren't going to leave without us, were you?"

Sakura turned to face the persistent men who had followed her. She sized them up, trying to decide if they were a real threat or not. She didn't want Sasuke to help her unless it was absolutely necessary. They weren't much older than her and, looking at them, she could tell they weren't ninja, but two of the three looked like they might be strong. The third was just huge…and ugly.

"Um, sorry, boys. I'm on my way to meet someone. Maybe another time."

"Isn't that cute? She says that like we gave her a choice." They laughed.

"What do you want?"

"Why…we want you, sweetheart. You can entertain us for a while."

"You're making a mistake," she warned. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Well, that's ok, babe, because I _do_ want to hurt you," the fat one joked, pulling out a large pocket knife and opening it up.

Sakura set down her bag of supplies and her boxed lunches.

"You brought us lunch, too? You sure know how to give good service, honey. What _else_ can you do?"

"Well," Sakura said cutely, "I can do _this_." She bent over and touched the ground with one finger.

The earth cracked and suddenly the ground disappeared from beneath the men as, cursing and arms flailing, they fell downward.

The fat one unintentionally threw his knife when he fell and got in what Sakura would say was a pretty, lucky shot.

The knife flew by her fast and cut a nice, little slice in her upper arm about four inches long.

She stood up and, noticing the blood flowing down her arm, took a few more seconds to heal the scratch before picking up her bags and boxed lunches.

She left the cursing men to their hole and took off at a sprint into the woods. She wanted to leave the area before they drew anyone's attention with their shouting.

"That was stupid," Sasuke commented, catching up to her.

"You think?"

"You should have knocked them out. For someone who wanted to be inconspicuous, you just made a lot of fuss."

"So what?"

"So they know you're a ninja now and there aren't many pink-haired ninja around. I thought this was a secret mission. You won't be able to come back this way for a while."

"First of all they would be complete idiots to tell anyone they were bested by a little, pink-haired girl. Not that it matters, Sasuke, because I won't even be able to leave Konoha for the next three years. Those jerks will have forgotten about me long before then."

"Three years?"

"Yep, that's the length of my mission to care for my captives. Imagine that, for three _long_ years I'm stuck with you characters. Douzo yoroshiku." She playfully tipped two fingers at him with a wry smirk.

0o0o0

"Did you have trouble, Sukoshi?" Itachi asked seeing Sakura's bloody arm.

"Nothing I couldn't handle, Itachi-san."

Sakura laid out a row of open bento and the cats all dug in as if they were starved.

"Itadakimusu."

"Hey!" Hidan whined. "There's a fucking _bug_ in my food!"

"Deal with it," Sakura murmured sitting down to enjoy the first real meal that wasn't a bug or somebody else's leftovers in more than a month.

It was delicious.

0o0o0

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Things you might already know:

Nannari toshi- means any town

Douzo yoroshiku-Something like-please take care of me or please be kind to me. Sakura is using it teasingly here.

Reviews=Love=author's Inspiration=Faster Updates.

Merry Christmas all! This Christmas Eve update is my present to you. A review would be a mighty fine present too!


	19. Chapter 19 Warm and Smooshy

DNON

Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter 19-Warm and Smooshy

A/N-Sakura's Indecision, you've got me raring to go again. Such great edits and so speedy! You're the best!

Wow, it's been great receiving all your reviews. The next chapter will be the first time the gang is back in Konoha. Poor Sak has her hands full now! Time for a shift in the story and new fun ahead.

Please look forward to it!

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Stroking a black cat will ensure health and wealth. -unknown

Coming across a cat at midnight is to encounter the devil himself. -Unknown

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Grass Country

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"I wanna go find Sasuke-kun!" the redhead whined, dragging her feet as they walked through another endless field of grass.

"Sasuke-san will come back, Karin." Juugo tried to comfort his upset traveling companion. "He always has before. You know he will be unhappy if we don't follow orders. He will come find us when he's ready."

Juugo was more worried about what Sasuke might do to harm the pink-haired girl he was chasing. He hoped that Sasuke's temper had found time to cool before he found her again.

"That was before he was chasing a little hottie. I want that sword of hers, though. Maybe we should go find them. If he's—cough-cough_—pumping her_ for information, I can sneak into their room and take it."

"Hey, you jerk!" Karin kicked irritably at a tall patch of weeds as they walked. "_My_ Sasuke-kun would never touch that-"

"Quit fooling yourself, Karin. If Sasu-kins wanted a ratty-haired, whiny bitch like you in his bed, he would have let you in already."

"Sasuke-kun is just shy about romance," Karin protested.

"Shy? Did you _see_ him? He was all over that pinky like white on rice. He has never even come close to touching you like that."

"Why, you slimy, little bastard! I'm gonna kill you!"

"Suigetsu," warned Juugo, sensing a fight. "Be kind."

"They've probably already started on that Uchiha clan rebuild."

"Usotsuki!"

"I'm not lying, Karin. You saw him. He nearly went crazy when_ I_ touched her and _he_ was tearing her clothes off, _not_ beating her to death." He saw Juugo shaking his head at how much he was upsetting Karin and, sighing, went on, "But he'll _probably_ be back in a couple of days, once he's got her out of his system. He's determined to kill his brother, so he won't give up until he's done that—no matter how good of a distraction she is. If you really want to impress him, you need to find Itachi before he gets back."

"You think so?" She stopped in her tracks, the hot sun beating down on her head. She hated the sunlight—it made her ugly, brown blotches on her fair skin.

"Why do you think he followed that chick? She might know where Itachi is and he wants to find Itachi. You were _supposed_ to be doing that, but lately you've been coming up empty-handed. I thought you had some special bloodline." Narrowing his eyes at her, Suigetsu accused, "Did you really drag us on a wild goose chase out here these last two months like that girl told Sasuke?"

Karin crossed her arms and pouted. She kicked at another clump of weeds.

"You bitch! I knew Itachi wasn't traveling to all those stupid, exotic places. See what you did? Now I've lost that sword _and_ you've lost Sasuke cause of your stupid, selfish-"

"Suigetsu." Juugo interrupted. "That's enough. Karin only did it because she cares about Sasuke."

"You better work for real now, Karin, or Sasuke is gonna kick you to the curb if that girl brings him Itachi first."

"I know. I'll find him. She can't possibly know where he is. She has no talent for finding chakra like me. I'll bring Sasuke-kun right to Itachi's door this time. He'll be back soon, right?"

"Yeah, probably, who knows? He might even bring that sword back for me as a reward for tiring Pinky out for him." Suigetsu grinned at Juugo, who gave him an unbelieving expression. "What? You never know. Stranger things have happened. Mah, forget it. Which way do you think Itachi is, Karin?"

She bit her finger, looking unsure.

"Now what?"

"I'm not sure…something's different. A few days ago, I was sure he was in Grass. Not that far from here, either. But after that girl came by, it felt…I don't know…weird. I thought Itachi might be with her at first, but the signature was different when she actually passed us by. It was somehow _less_ than it was last time I found Itachi."

"Then let's go find the last place where you were sure his chakra signature was." Juugo suggested. "Sasuke wanted us to go there anyhow. Maybe we'll have some answers for him by the time he finds us."

"I suppose that makes sense, big guy." Suigetsu grinned toothily at the loud, lonely kunoichi. "What do you think, Creepy?"

"Shut up, stupid Suigetsu! Come on."

0o0o0

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Akatsuki base-Grass

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The harsh wind that blew across the smoking ruins snatched the paper rose from the woman's blue hair, whisking it into the dying embers that were once the only Akatsuki base in Grass Country.

Beside her, a long-haired man with numerous silver piercings in his face toed the ashes, silently pondering the fate of the men they had come here to meet. All around them, the muted sounds of nature continued, unaware of the life gone from this devastated wreck. Pein wasn't particularly close to any member of Akatsuki beyond Konan, but he would have willingly fought alongside any one of them to reach the goals the organization had set before them. To go on without them would be a hardship indeed.

Twenty minutes later, a hulking form in an ash-covered and slightly crispy cloak rose from the earth.

"There's nothing left."

"Nothing?"

He held out his hand to the flame-haired man and dropped three crushed rings in his palm. "That's all I could find. There are no bodies, but considering there were enough explosives here to blow up a small village…" He left the rest unsaid.

"So we may assume there are at least three dead?" Konan asked.

"Perhaps, unless they've somehow betrayed the organization," Zetsu suggested. "It's unlikely, but they could have faked their deaths."

"Hidan…he can't be killed though, right?" Konan asked.

"By conventional means, no. But there was enough C4 in there to disintegrate Kakuzu's safe. If Hidan _is_ around here, he must be in teeny-tiny pieces."

"And the rest?"

"Either out on a mission or dead," Zetsu deduced. "They were expecting us, so chances are, most of them were already here waiting for our arrival when the base blew up." The wind blew an errant ember through the air to land and spark in his dark hair. The dual-toned nin brushed away the ember and shrugged. "Frankly, I was incredibly lucky to find those rings. If the others were here, the rings could have been blown anywhere. There could still be bodies in the area. If they are still wearing their rings, you might be able to track them down through them, Pein-sama."

The leader of the trio shook his head. "I have been unable to contact anyone."

"Maybe they already fought the next Jinchuriki and it bested them then torched this place?"

The leader of the trio shook his head. "I would know if another Jinchuuriki had been captured. Whether on purpose or accidently, Deidara's C4 is responsible for this."

"Now what?"

"I find it a bit odd that not a great deal of the woods here has been burnt."

"It does look like it has rained here since the detonation. Maybe it was contained by the storm or the blast itself could have consumed everything in one go, leaving little in its reach to burn afterwards." Pein looked at his two remaining soldiers. "We will split up and reconnoiter the area. Konan, you'll have to check in the village. Be especially cautious of spies. A blast this large might have drawn some attention. If Akatsuki really has been reduced to just us, then we will need to coordinate our efforts much better."

"Hai, Pein-sama."

The three disappeared into the afternoon, leaving the smoking hole in the ground that once contained the rest of their organization's members to burn itself out.

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Fire Country

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Sakura and the others pushed on that night after sleeping away the rest of the daylight hours. Sakura had her second wind now and was eager to get back home. If everything went well, they would be entering Konoha tomorrow night under the light of the waxing crescent moon. The sky above them was cloudy and smelled of rain, so Sakura set a fast pace and the cats were forced to be quick to keep up with her.

Far into the early morning hours, perhaps an hour before the sky was set to lighten predawn, Sakura slid to a halt. Itachi was instantly at her side.

"Sukoshi-" he started.

She put up her hand to stop him. "I know. You know the drill." She quickly stowed Kisame's sword and her bags in a thicket and stood a distance away from it, waiting. The cats around her disappeared. About two minutes later, four ANBU jumped down in front of her. Sakura flashed them a hand signal. The ANBU captain gave the rest of them a hand sign and three of them disappeared.

"Haruno-san," the tall, porcelain-masked captain with the long, dark hair greeted her, sounding pleased.

She nodded in greeting and waited for him to speak first about why he was stopping her. She was not sure if they had come looking for her or had simply run into her while out on another mission and wanted to share important news with her. ANBU were not known to stop to chat.

The man slipped his mask up onto his head and nodded at her. "It is good to see you've returned back home safely." His pale eyes glowed with warmth in his handsome face and his lips tilted in a small smile.

"Yes, I-" she began, but one of the other ANBU landed beside Neji holding a struggling cat.

"Does this cute, little guy belong to you, Haruno-san?"

Sakura saw Sasuke open his mouth and suddenly imagined the worst. She quickly grabbed the wiggling cat from the ANBU and hugged him tightly, shoving him into her chest to silence him.

"Yes, he's mine. Thank you."

"We heard about the Council and the Hokage's orders, so I figured he must be." The man said good-naturedly before turning to Neji. "Taichou, are we leaving soon?"

"Yes, just give me another minute," he said distractedly.

"Hai, Taichou." The ANBU disappeared.

0o0o0

To say Uchiha Sasuke was surprised when he found his face pillowed between Sakura's breasts would be an understatement. His mind had literally gone blank.

Sasuke froze when the ANBU had grabbed him as he tried to sneak off. It wasn't his fault. He didn't know how to use this new body well yet. And neither Itachi nor Sakura had bothered to tell him what 'the drill' was. Apparently, they had been around each other long enough to communicate quickly. Then, when the ANBU who'd seized him confronted Sakura, asking if _he _actually belonged to _her_, he had been so taken aback that he _had _nearly said something. _Uchiha Sasuke _belonged to _no one_. Then Sakura snatched him out of the man's hands and stuffed him here, where he could barely breathe. He arched his back, but she only held him tighter. And now, she was conversing with that damned Hyuuga.

Well, he decided, it was time for him to stop her before she put her foot into her mouth.

The problem was she was holding his head too tightly and he couldn't see to get free. He tried to shake his head to no avail. Eventually, he was able to pull his front paws free and push against her for leverage, but instead of firm muscle, his paws met soft, yielding flesh. It was _then_ he fully realized just what he pressing _on_. Sakura was hugging him into her breasts! His fur stood on end and his whole body grew warm with the thought and then he grew angry at his own foolish reaction. He was tempted to unsheathe his claws into that tender skin, but then, all of a sudden, he became overwhelmingly curious. His tail twitched mischievously. It was odd how the resiliency of the malleable tissue beneath his pads made him actually feel playful when he pushed into it—and it gave way enough for him to catch his breath. He realized it wasn't stifling—in fact, in spite of the fact they'd been running all night, Sakura smelled…good. When he wiggled his head again, he was able to get one eye just high enough over the curve of her breast to see that arrogant bastard, Hyuuga flirting with his ex-teammate.

0o0o0

'Council? Hokage's orders?' Sakura thought, 'What orders?' She kept her mouth shut and, pressing Sasuke closer, prayed he would keep quiet, too.

Then he started moving. And it didn't help that her Inner was cheerfully reminding her that the man she loved was rubbing his face into her breasts.

'Sasuke!' She felt him wriggling and pushing against her and wondered just what the hell he thought he was going to do? There was no way she was going to let him screw this mission up for her when she had gotten so far. If he started talking now, he would screw everything up. She tried stroking his ear to relax him and he seemed to mellow out a little. She looked back to Neji who was watching her closely.

"Is there something wrong, Hyuuga-san?"

"Hm," he coughed delicately, appearing concerned. "Are you injured, Haruno-san?" he was taking in her tired, disheveled appearance, her atypical silence and her torn clothes. "We have a medic in our unit. Of course, his skill is no match for yours. Konoha hasn't been the same with its best medic gone. We've missed you," he ended softly.

She stared at him, a little confused, and spoke slowly, "I am fine, Hyuuga-san, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't anxious to get home to my own bed."

He took the hint. "I am sorry for delaying you. Perhaps I can make it up to you by buying you lunch after we return from our mission?" Sakura swore she heard a soft snigger somewhere in the brush.

"Ah…sure. That would be nice, Hyuuga-san." she said, anxious to send him on his way. "Itterrashai."

"Ittekimasu, Sakura-san." Smirking, he bowed slightly then pulled his mask down over his face before he blurred away from her. She waited quietly for another few minutes, listening for signs they might return until, between her breasts, Sasuke started to struggle again. She pulled him up to face her. He shook his head now that he was finally free and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Gomen ne, Sasuke-kun," Sakura apologized. "I thought you were going to talk and I couldn't allow it."

"Tch." His ears swiveled sideways and his tail flicked. He turned his head away to avoid her steady, sincere gaze.

"Yeah, _Sasuke-kun_," Deidara snickered, rubbing up against Sakura's leg. "That guy might not have asked her on a date if he had known she was rubbing the face of a nuke-nin into her boobs."

Sakura face turned completely red when she grasped what he was saying. She dropped Sasuke. "I wasn't…he wasn't… oh, _you_! _I_ wasn't doing _that_ and _Neji _wasn't asking me out on a _date_!"

"That's what it sounded like to me, yeah. What a lame-o! '_Let me buy you lunch._ _Ittekimasu, Sakura-san. We've missed you'_ Ugh! He's your boyfriend, nya? Why else was he delaying an ANBU mission if not for a little nookie?"

Sakura shook her head vehemently. "You're wrong! He was just concerned because I look awful. I've _never_ spent time with him outside of healing him or training with his team. He is a _colleague_ of mine, nothing more!"

The largest of the group appeared at her side flicking an ear nonchalantly. "You don't look too awful to me, kitten," Kisame disagreed. "Hair messed up, clothes half torn off. Rather than a fight, you look more like you just climbed out of someone's bed."

"Yeah." Deidara stretched lazily and whipped his tail saucily. "It looked to _me_ like that Hyuuga guy just wanted to switch places with Sasuke."

"You're all being _ridiculous_! Just…shut up!" Angry and embarrassed, she grabbed her bags and the huge sword from where'd she'd hidden them and changed the subject. "We've only got an hour left before dawn, so we're gonna run _double-time_." Sakura felt the first light drops marking the beginning of the rain shower. The cool water felt good when it hit her heated face. If they didn't like it, the others could suck it up. 'We'll arrive in the Leaf village tomorrow night come hell or high water,' she thought.

"Ikou." Sakura took off into the forest. One by one, all the cats joined her.

Deidara couldn't resist sidling playfully up to Sasuke as they ran. "How was it, hm? Soft, yeah? Warm and smooshy, _un_nya? Did she smell good?" He laughed wickedly. "You should have seen the look on her face when you were snuggling up in her boobs. That was a brilliant idea. I should have let those losers catch me."

"Teme," Sasuke growled.

Deidara couldn't resist a parting shot before he bounded happily after the kunoichi. "Sounded like you were purring at the end there, too, _Sasuke-kun_."

Sasuke came to a sliding halt and sat down.

No! That's impossible! He wasn't _purring_…was he? Angry and embarrassed, Sasuke took off after Sakura, stealing glimpses at the girl he'd grown up with when he thought no one else was looking.

She really had changed, he thought.

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Things you probably already know:

Itterrashai-Have a safe Journey-or-Go and come back safely.

Ittekimasu-I'm going-I'm leaving home-Literally it means 'I'll go and come back.' And yes, you can say it in regard to leaving a place you more or less regard as home. Have you ever heard the saying-'Home is where the heart is'?

And to back me up, Gaara just said it before he left the village in for the Kage Summit in the anime! Yoshi!

A/N**Now before you get upset and rant about Ittekimasu only being said from one's own house, know that this was meant kind of tongue and cheek. I know Neji wasn't literally leaving his home but he was flirting (rather corny and nerd-like, I know) with Sakura. I was just having a little fun with language in my story.

Ikou-Let's go.

Usotsuki-Liar

Teme-Bastard-low-life. Yeah, you knew that one.

Gomen ne-I'm sorry.

A/N-Just can't beat that animal instinct, eh?

Reviews=Love=Author's Inspiration=Faster Updates.


	20. Chapter 20 Home is Where My Heart Is

DNON

A/N-Someone asked me a question that I want to answer.

My penname, Kaze and Kiba, actually does not have _anything_ to do with Naruto.

Ahaha, it may seem like it, but that's not how it happened.

About two years ago, out of the blue, I started furiously writing an adventure/romance novel. (Not published, yet). I need to re-write it much better before I'm brave enough to send it to an actual publisher. I love the story—but I digress.

A few people did read it and they actually _liked_ it. One said, "Hey, you should try writing Fanfiction." I thought it would be good practice, and it is—I'm learning _so_ much, especially since I found an excellent editor. Thanks, Sakura's Indecision. And thanks Rivenmist for showing me how to get started on ff.

The name of my book is _Wind and Fang_. So I used that for my pen name.

Kaze=Wind & Kiba=Fang

I know 99% of you could care less but someone asked and I am happy to share this tidbit. I have really found something I love to do even if it's only in my spare time right now. I hope to get better and better at it.

Thanks for asking, Dogtooth3030

Thank you everyone who reads my work and especially _you wonderful people_ who review. You really make my day!

K&K

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Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter 20-Home is Where My Heart Is

When moving to a new home, always put the cat through the window instead of the door, so that it will not leave. - American superstition

A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes. - Indian Proverb

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'Fuck. _Fuck_, _fuck_, _fuck_, _fuck_, FUCK!'

The rage that threatened to break free from his carefully constructed persona was almost more than he could bear.

The whip-thin, striated feline raced a short distance behind the Konoha kunoichi. This same kunoichi had, through some fucking _miracle_, been able, thus far, to escape his wrath. Blood-red images of the numerous ways in which he would torture the little bitch played behind his eyelids—which now refused to allow him access to his bloodline trait.

Not only had the little bitch captured him, she had seen his secret—a secret no other in this group knew—save for one.

The clumsy, crazy fucking _luck_ of this woman was un-fucking-believable.

But she would pay.

They would all pay.

Heads were gonna fucking roll once he figured out a way out of this fucking mess.

Itachi would be first—he had brought the little minx to their door. Then, Hoshigaki for inviting her in. After that, Deidara would feel his ire for protecting that little cat when he was two seconds from taking her into his grasp. He would make them all pay for their fucking screw-ups. Letting a goddamn kunoichi settle into their midst. Hidan was the only one to fight her, and he had put up such a miserable fucking attempt at killing the damn cat. He would tear his head off just for being so fucking incompetent!

But before all that, he was gonna murder that damn catwoman. Neko-baa was the root of all this. He never thought that she would _ever_ interfere in _any_ clan business, but that old bitch had actually gone and done it.

_Fuck!_

That girl would pay the most, though. He wasn't gonna kill her. That would be too easy—a blessing. No, he was gonna keep her alive for many, many years to come and he was gonna fucking torture her to the brink of death over and over and over again. Death would be a respite that she would _not_ receive.

But first…

First, he had to get control of his temper. He was so pissed off that he had not spoken a word since they left the base. He had listened carefully. The girl seemed to already have a relationship of some sort with Itachi—the boy was actually enjoying this little _fucking_ misadventure. And the younger Uchiha—the brash and foolish younger man—it was obvious the girl cared for him. Just what connection did the three have that he wasn't privy to? Having all this to think about helped him bring his colossal anger under control. In order to figure everything out, he needed to get back into the kunoichi's good graces and, while he highly doubted that was possible, maybe her soft spot for the Uchiha would best serve his purpose. He might even be able to use the younger brother's hatred against them all.

He was finally able to slip back into his childish façade during the last leg of their journey.

They had been running hard through the rain after that near miss with ANBU. As the dawn's rays broke over the horizon only to be concealed behind a mass of clouds, the kunoichi called a halt to their progress for the night.

"Ok, boys," Sakura said, slipping one of the heavy bags from her shoulder and depositing it in the thick brush near the overhang she'd found for shelter. "We're stopping here for the day. We'll split the watch into three, but everyone stay close and no one sleep too hard. We're only thirty miles out from Konoha and, even though we're off the beaten track, we could still run into other people."

Kakuzu offered to take first watch, dragging a hostile and cursing Hidan with him after Sakura passed out the last of the rations.

"Sukoshi." Itachi sat near her feet, flicking his damp ear in clear distaste at being soaked. "Are you just going to walk into the gates before they close for the night? Even at night, people are sure to notice your…entourage. You can't go through the gate or over the walls after dark—the traps laid out over them are very dangerous."

"Now, don't you worry your pretty, little head about that, Itachi-kun," she cooed mirthfully, reaching out to tousle his wet fur. "I've got that all worked out."

He sniffed at her cockiness and sauntered to the other side of the dry shelter to contemplate the odd girl's overconfident reaction.

Sakura sat back and sighed. Itachi second-guessing her plan was starting it irritate her. She had made it this far, hadn't she? True, some of it was luck, but he didn't have to treat her like a little kid—and that silly nickname! What was poor Sasuke thinking whenever Itachi called her that? Did he think that they were in on this together? She surreptitiously glanced at Sasuke as he stared out into the rain. He must hate her more than ever. All she wanted right now was to curl into a ball and give in to her fatigue. She was way beyond tired, but there would be no rest for her until she was inside the village again with all of her little captives. It was going to be a long day. She nibbled on the last bits of jerky she had kept for herself and watched as the others settled themselves around her. Even Sasuke was staying close to avoid the nasty, wet mud just outside their tiny refuge. For the first time in days, the third and unknown Uchiha ventured to speak to her.

The sleek, marbled cat walked over to her with a slight limp.

"Tobi's hurt, nya."

She looked at him and her lips drew down into a frown. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Itachi was no longer ignoring her existence and was watching with interest to see what would happen.

"Really?" she asked slowly.

"Yes," the cat answered eagerly. "Tobi was running fast and Tobi felt something bite his foot. Now, Tobi's got a boo-boo."

Sakura stifled the scoffing laugh that longed to come out. Did this man think she was a complete idiot? That a few silly words would make her forget the dark and dangerous aura that she'd felt when she'd realized his identity?

She could play that game, too. After all, for the time being, she was his keeper.

"Poor, Tobi-kun," she crooned. "Come sit here and let me look at it." She offered her lap and he eagerly climbed into it, lying on his back to show her his injured paw.

"I see. You do have a boo-boo, Tobi-kun." She carefully pulled the barb from the pad of his paw then sent a tiny trickle of healing chakra into it. By the time she was finished, he was purring happily as she rubbed his paw between her fingers, massaging it.

"My turn, unya!" Deidara insisted, barging into Tobi headfirst and pushing him off Sakura's lap to take his place. Tobi's sharp glare was not lost on Sakura as he slunk over to sit near Sakura's hip before becoming cheerful once again.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan!" he trilled enthusiastically. "Tobi feels much better now that Sakura-chan helped him."

"I'm happy to help you, Tobi-kun." She smiled before turning her attention to the new cat that flopped into her lap like he owned it. "Deidara-kun, that was very rude of you to push like that," she scolded the too-cute, gold and white ball of damp fluff who was currently upside down in her lap, hugging her hand with his large front paws.

"My feet hurt, too, Sakura-chan." His deep, charming voice seemed so out of place coming from his sweet, furry face. "Please rub mine, too."

"Hai, hai," she answered. "I guess a foot rub would probably feel pretty good right now," she mumbled, massaging his six-toed pads while he purred his heart out.

"Dei-kun, you seem to have a lot of sand burrs caught up in your fur." She began to pick the tiny prickly bits out. "I guess it can't be helped with your long coat. "Sasuke-kun, do you have lots as well?"

"Hn." Sasuke turned away, ignoring her question.

"I'll take that as a yes. After I'm done here, I'll get yours out as well. When we get back, I can brush them out properly." She turned back to examine Deidara's fur, but it appeared she had found most of the stickers. "You're done, Deidara-kun. Kisame-san, how are your feet feeling?" She questioned the large, blue-grey cat who dwarfed the rest.

"My back feet are ok, but my hands and arms hurt like hell. It takes a lot to get used to running on your hands."

She smiled. "Yes, I know. You and Itachi made me chase you all the way back to your base a few hours after I got my own paws. You nearly ran me ragged."

"Now I know why you were so persistent," he chuckled. "And here I thought it was just because you had a crush on Itachi there."

"Oh, you!"

Sasuke's tail flicked rapidly in irritation as he watched a blush burn across her cheeks.

Sakura took Kisame's front paws and massaged them, sending a warm dose of chakra into his feet and legs. She did the same for Sasori after and then she snatched Sasuke off the ground from where he was just beginning to doze.

"This will just take a minute, Sasuke-kun."

"I said I'm _fine_," he growled, twisting and struggling to get out of her grip.

"Actually, you just grunted at me. You can't blame me for translating wrong. We haven't been around each other for a while. Now, just let me check your feet. See here, you have sand burrs, too. This long fur seems to be more maintenance than short fur." She sent gentle waves of warm chakra into his legs to calm him while she worked and, finally, he stopped wriggling and closed his eyes. She stroked his super-soft coat and was pleased to see him relax a little.

"I'm finished, Sasuke-kun."

No sooner did she move her hands off him than he jumped from her lap with a snarl and curled up on the ground in a ball. Then he tucked his face beneath his paws so she could no longer see it. She smiled at how adorable he looked. He was so much easier to read as a cat than normally. Whether he said it or not, he liked the attention—she could tell.

"Itachi-san, you're next."

"I'm fine, Sukoshi."

"Her _name_ is Sakura," Sasuke growled. His ears flattened and his tail twitched as he glared at Itachi.

"It's ok, Sasuke-kun-"

"On second thought, I _am_ a little sore." Itachi rose and stretched lazily before sauntering over to Sakura and rubbing against her arm. "You may heal me, _Sukoshi_."

Giving Itachi a look bordering on recalcitrance, Sakura picked him up and sat him in her lap. If she wasn't worried about his health, she would have made him wait for his little snub. Sakura put her hands on him, starting at his shoulders. The others couldn't tell that the time she took actually involved checking his vitals and breathing. She could tell he was starting to feel the stress of going without his medication. She eased the buildup of fluid in his lungs and relaxed the tightened muscles there before going on to check and restore the rest of his body.

Sasuke watched in curious and irritated silence, wondering why she spent so much time on his brother.

Sakura acted as if nothing was different, but spent a good deal of chakra working on Itachi. When they got home, she knew a complete work up would be the first thing she did in order to try and stop whatever it was that was make his body war with itself so badly. When she finished, Itachi nodded to her and stepped down to curl up on the opposite side that Sasuke was on. Sakura let out a deep breath and sat back to watch the rain drip off her shelter.

When Kakuzu and Hidan returned, Sasori and Deidara took their places. She healed Kakuzu's feet and, after much bitching and moaning about not wanting her to touch him, Hidan even let her help him. Itachi and Kisame took their turn on watch as the afternoon wore away to night. Sakura kept sending minute waves of stimulating chakra into her brain to keep herself alert. It was a technique she had learned from working countless hours in her lab. She stimulated herself without the use of caffeine and, this way, she got much more work done. It could be monotonous working in a lab or sitting in a library for hours poring over dusty, old texts and she had to figure out a way to stay alert. She laid a simple genjutsu over the space they occupied, so if someone did come upon them unaware, they only saw an unappealing, dark outcropping of rock.

When the sun finally set, she rose and stretched and roused everyone. She slowly packed on the heavy bags and picked up Samehada.

"Ok, guys, stay close. Sasuke-kun, you take the lead until we are five miles out of the village then I will take point. Kisame, Itachi—left and right flank. Stay within hearing distance. If you see or hear anyone, alert me first and then the group—then hide. Only _I_ will talk to anyone we come in contact with—got it? Let's go."

She set off at a steady pace and the group followed, except for Sasuke who skated ahead. She hoped by giving him the lead, she could show him that she still had some faith in him as a teammate, but she couldn't tell from his look if he appreciated it or not. Well, she would worry about that later. For now, she just had to get the group into the village which was already closed off for the night. She prayed that Kakashi was waiting like he promised—she was depending on him now.

Sasuke halted when they had come within five miles of the village. He only nodded to her as she passed, but she was relieved that he seemed to understand that this part was important. Sakura now turned east and ran an additional ten miles before turning straight south towards Konoha.

Itachi was by her side in an instant and Sasuke was right behind him.

"Sukoshi, the walls outside the Uchiha district are just as, if not _more_, dangerous to cross then elsewhere in the village."

"I know that, Itachi-san."

"There is a way to get inside safely, but to do that you must possess—"

"Pakkun! Yokatta! I'm so happy to see you!"

The dog growled slightly at the sight of so many of his natural enemies before he walked up to Sakura. "You look tired, Sakura-chan. Come with me. He's waiting."

She followed him, warning the others to stick close and follow Pakkun's chosen path.

When they passed within five hundred feet of the wall a shadow fell over them as a man dropped from the trees.

"Sensei!"

"Hatake-san," Itachi nodded as if his earlier question had been answered.

"Come, Sakura. How many are there with you?"

"Eight, plus me—nine in all."

"Stand back. As soon as the passage opens go through quickly."

She nodded and did a silent head count while Kakashi lifted his hitai-ate. He swiftly did a jutsu that they couldn't see and slapped his palm to the wall. A few seconds later, a small section of the wall disappeared and Kakashi hurried them through before it reappeared behind them.

"Pakkun, go report Sakura's arrival to the Hokage."

"Hai."

The cats, save for the last captured, stood away from Kakashi.

Sakura dropped her baggage and leaned back against the wall. "Sensei, I don't think I can go any further."

"It's not much farther, Sakura. Let me take those bags for you." He tried to heft the largest bag first and it didn't even lift off the ground.

"What the hell have you been hauling—rocks?"

"Sensei." Sakura sagged even more. "I'll just sleep right here tonight." She slipped down the wall and Kakashi caught her as she flopped forward.

"Steady, Sakura! Are you injured? Damn it, Sakura, answer me!"

Kakashi slid his hand under her knees and picked her up.

"You," Kakashi demanded of the nearest cat, "what do you know about this? Is she hurt?"

The long-haired, black cat gazed at him as if deciding whether to answer or not, but was interrupted by the return of Pakkun and the Hokage.

"Kakashi! What's going on?" Glowing hands were laid on Sakura to access her condition.

"She just passed out, Hokage-sama. I don't know if she's hurt."

Tsunade continued to scan her body quickly before she nodded and stepped back.

"She's exhausted, low on chakra, and severely malnourished, but she'll be ok." She turned to the group of cats watching them curiously. "Who do we have here?"

No one answered.

"Come now, I know everything about the spells." She pointed to the collar on her neck that matched Sakura's. "The first thing I want to know is who was captured last?" She looked around and the large group of cats were all looking at the long-haired black.

"You!" Tsunade pointed. "Who are you?"

"Hn." His tail twitched in irritation.

"Come on. Out with it."

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Kakashi nearly dropped Sakura. "Sasuke-kun! What-"

"_How_ are you involved with Akatsuki?" Tsunade demanded.

"I'm not."

"You'd better have a damn, good explanation, boy."

"Hn."

"If you joined up with them after all the concessions I've made—after your team went to the mat for you."

"I didn't ask them to."

Tsunade's brows drew together as she stared at the ungrateful brat, deciding he needed a lesson in humility. "Uchiha Sasuke. If I give you your human form back for a little bit, do you think you can carry those items?"

"I'll do it." The largest of the cats came swiftly forward.

"Who are you?" Tsunade's eyes narrowed at him.

"Hoshigaki Kisame, beautiful—and if I'd known _you_ were Konoha's Hokage, I would have surrendered a _long_ time ago."

Tsunade's eye twitched. She closed her eyes momentarily, took a deep breath, and shook her head to clear it.

"Your answer, Sasuke."

"I'll do it."

"Fine. The spell is still intact, so _no_ funny business—_no_ attacking anyone, _friend or foe,_ or you will be spending a lot of time in a tiny, little cage. Got it?"

Sasuke nodded and Tsunade touched her collar. In an instant, the dark-haired student of Hatake Kakashi crouched there looking at his hands before he stood and went over to Sakura's abandoned baggage. He slung the scrolls over his shoulder and grabbed the biggest bag.

It wouldn't budge.

He channeled some chakra into his arms and tried again.

Nothing.

She hauled something _this heavy_ all the way from Grass, he thought. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he never would have believed she could do it.

With the help of even more chakra he was finally able to heft the bag and other items. Tsunade indicated that he lead the way and told the cats to follow behind.

"Where?" Sasuke asked, struggling to maintain some semblance of nonchalance as he managed the heavy gear.

"Your home, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi informed him. "It's been…modified for the time being."

Sasuke sighed and started back toward his family home. Behind him Kakashi carried Sakura and Tsunade led the rest. A million memories bloomed in his mind as he walked down the silent, overgrown streets. The closer he came to his childhood home with the man who had robbed him of it following, the more angry he became. He had already decided to kill Itachi when they arrived—fuck the consequences.

When they arrived at the Uchiha estate, Sasuke had no sooner set down the bags than he changed back into his cat form.

"Hey!" he spat furiously.

"Sorry, boy. I'm not taking any chances until I find out why Sakura captured you. You'll just have to deal with it. I'm not sure if this _can_ be fixed for you until I talk to Neko-chan, so be a good boy and deal with it. Everybody inside." She opened the door.

"Kakashi, put Sakura in the first bedroom." Tsunade ordered before turning to the rest of the group.

"You'll all have to be incarcerated for a few days," she told them. "After I have explained what is expected of you and the consequences, you will be allowed to roam freely in designated areas. If you disobey, the punishment will be incarceration for the duration of your sentence. If you do something worse, you will be sentenced immediately to spend the rest of your _life_ as a cat. This is not up for discussion tonight—you'll have to hold your questions until tomorrow. I need to attend to Sakura, so all of you follow Hatake-san."

"Come." Kakashi sauntered down the hall with the cats following him and Pakkun bringing up the rear.

He opened the door to the surgery. "Welcome, gentlemen." He started to open the doors on the wall. "Pick a cell. This is only temporary, I assure you. Tomorrow, I will be introducing you to the others and we will take it from there. Enjoy your sleep. I'm sure you've had a long journey."

The cats, looking none too happy, jumped into the cages lining the wall and, one by one, Kakashi closed them—until the last.

"Now, that won't do," he mumbled.

Kakashi entered the room where Tsunade was healing Sakura.

"Hokage-sama, there's a small, er, big problem."

"What's that?" she asked.

"Hello again, beautiful," Kisame purred from behind Tsunade.

"This guy's too big to fit in the cage."

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Sukoshi-Little one-Itachi's pet nickname for Sakura.

Hai-yes.

Yokatta-Thank goodness-I'm glad.

Reviews=Love=Author's Inspiration=Faster Updates


	21. Chapter 21 Old Friends New Enemies

DNON

A/N-Thank you, Sakura's Indecision, for all your help and editing. Your skills are unmatched in FF!

Fan art! I got _my first_ fan art!

Nekojen9 made me a terrific picture of Sakura with all her little catptives, hehe.

Domo arigato goziamasu, Nekojen9!

The link to my deviantART account can be found in my Profile. It's easy to find Nekojen9's artwork because it is the _only_ picture in my favorites! Then you can go check out all her other work, too. They are so cute, I can't pick a favorite, but I'm partial to the Uchiha boys and Deidara and Kisame.

And to Jaylee-Rebel-Wow, girl, I think you've broken the record for chapters reviewed in a week! So…if I look out my window, might I see you there, hiding in the bushes? Hehe. Thanks.

For any of you interested I've also made a poll on my Profile for the story: Wasted Days and Wasted Nights-I'm letting the readers chose the, ahem, _leading man_ for the sequel. So if you want to pick your favorite man, go for it! Take the poll! If you do not like the choices, ah, well, you can pm me your vote, I guess. Only two votes per person, please. I don't have much down for the second part yet. I will wait to do that until the poll is closed in a few weeks so I can go with whatever you all chose.

Gambatte!

K&K

Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter 21-Old Friends New Enemies

Keep no more cats than will catch mice_.—_J. Dare (1673)

Neko ni koban-猫に小判 -(Like giving gold coins to a cat)-Don't offer things to people who are incapable of appreciating them, "Pearls before swine."

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When Sakura opened her eyes, she was lying on a new futon in an unknown room. She looked up and saw an unfamiliar ceiling and, to her left, an unfamiliar window.

The tree visible outside the window had leaves of gold that blazed in the late afternoon sun. The clouds above and beyond the tree blushed bright coral with shimmering amber highlights.

Sakura closed her eyes and sighed in relief.

"I made it."

"Okaeri nasai, Sakura-chan." A low, husky voice made her eyes snap back open. She thought she was alone. She turned her head to see an old friend.

"Pakkun! Tadaima," she said warmly to the light brown pug lying next to her bed with his chin on his paws.

"Kakashi will be glad to see you're awake. You gave us quite a scare, passing out like that."

"Gomen na, Pakkun. The trip home was a little rougher than I expected."

"Cats will do that." He stood up and stretched his short legs. "You know, it would have been wiser to turn them into dogs."

She smiled at his suggestion. "You think so?"

"Dogs are loving and loyal. Cats are…" He sneered in disgust. "Cats."

"You may have something there, Pakkun." Sakura laughed softly. "I guess I should get up and check on them."

"Nah, you rest easy, Sakura-chan. They're being taken care of at the moment. Kakashi will want to know you're awake, though. The Hokage has been here, too. You stay here and rest. I'll get him."

"Arigato, Pakkun." Feeling at ease, she closed her eyes for a few more minutes.

A cool, dry hand on her brow caused her to open them again.

"Sensei."

"How are you feeling, Sakura?" The warm twinkle of Kakashi's visible eye, along with his wild, gray bush of hair, made Sakura feel safe.

"Okay."

It was nice to see a friendly face. She didn't realize just how much she'd missed everyone. It seemed like she'd been gone much longer than five or six weeks. With everything that had happened with the Akatsuki and Sasuke, it felt more like a year.

"Are you hungry? Come. Get up and stretch your legs. I have some tea and sandwiches for you. Tsunade ordered you to eat and rest to regain your chakra faster."

"Shishou? Where is she?"

"She had to go back to work this morning. She'll be back a little later." He extended a hand and helped her up. He handed her a red robe that she recognized as her own from home. "This is your room. The facilities are across the hall and the detainees are down the hall to the left. The living room, dining room and kitchen are to the right."

"_Where_ are we?"

"We're still in the Uchiha district. This is Sasuke's childhood home. We repaired it for your use. I'll fill you in while I show you around."

Sakura slapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh my goodness, Sasuke! I forgot to tell you about—"

"I know, but he hasn't spoken two words since yesterday."

She nodded. "I, uh, ran into him on the way back. He's pretty angry. It was…an accident."

"Don't worry about it, Sakura." Kakashi ruffled her bed-head hair, messing it up even more as he put an arm around her shoulders, hugging her close. "I'm just happy you made it home safe. Come on now."

She entered a narrow hall partitioned off by traditional fusuma doors made of paper and wood that led into a large living space, at least sixteen tatami mats wide. On one side of the room, there were two intricately carved, wooden couches that faced each other with an end table between them. The relief on the couches resembled cherry blossoms. The textile covering on the cushions was cream-colored silk, embroidered with tiny pink and gold sakura flowers and fine gold trim edging. Long, rolled, matching pillows sat along the back and side rests. The other side of the room was filled with bookshelves and colorful throw cushions on the floor to sit on while reading. Beyond that, partitioned off by more fusama, there was a large dining room containing an enormous chabudai table, with the kitchen past that.

Sakura ran her fingers along the back of the intricately carved sofa and blushed when she thought that so much care had gone into her comfort. They really didn't need to go to so much trouble for her. She certainly wasn't used to this much extravagance.

"The wooden furniture was all made by Yamato. He also made most of the major repairs to the structure, as well as the outbuilding."

"His craftsmanship is beautiful." Sakura ran her fingers over the scrolled woodwork that gleamed warmly in the late afternoon light.

"For winter, he made you a kotatsu, too, Sakura. Genma donated the heater for the table." He squeezed her shoulder encouragingly. "I know it won't be easy, but we'll all do our best to help you. Since you'll probably be spending most of your time here for the next three years, we wanted you to feel at home."

"It so…wow." She smiled in appreciation and looked around. "I never realized Sasuke's home was so huge." Her whole apartment could fit into the Uchiha living room, with space to spare.

"Yes. The Uchiha quarter holds some wealth, but the rest of it still looks pretty rundown for security reasons. There are wards and traps all around this property to keep anyone from discovering our mission here. This house had fallen into quite a state of disrepair, also. Before you eat, I have another surprise for you." She followed him out to the gardens.

"Oh!" She gasped, smiling at the multi-colored fish swimming in the bubbling pool. She knelt down on the moss-covered stone and trailed her fingers through the cool water. "A koi pond. How cute!"

He nodded and towed her back up to see more. "Look here." He gently pushed her over toward the lone structure across the yard. "We have our own private onsen."

"No way!" Curious, she pulled back the curtain on the outbuilding and her cheeks flushed bright red. "Genma-san!"

"Sakura-chan!" The special jounin came strolling out with only a towel around his waist. "You're home. Welcome back!" He smiled, swiveling his senbon to the side. He patted her shoulder affectionately while she awkwardly looked anywhere but at him.

"Ah, thanks, Genma-san."

Kakashi slapped Genma on the back of the head. "Go put some clothes on."

"What? I was creating some skinship with my Taichou, here," Genma teased, squeezing her shoulder. "Sakura-chan, do you want to join me?"

Sakura's face burned even brighter and Genma chuckled.

"Sakura, if you'd like, you can see if you've regained your chakra-enhanced strength by punching this troublemaker." Kakashi said thoughtfully.

Genma put up his hands. "I was just kidding, guys. I'll go get dressed and the onsen is all yours, Taichou." Genma looked her up and down. "It looks like you could use it, too."

Sakura looked down and realized she was still wearing the same dirty, torn clothing from her journey.

"First, you need to eat. Then you can check out the hot spring." Kakashi steered her back up toward the house. "Tsunade will be here in a while and she'll want to debrief you."

Thinking about her wards, she stopped and asked, "Have they been fed?"

"Yes." Kakashi assured her and kept her moving. "Their needs have been seen to for now."

"Could you bring Itachi out to speak to me for a minute while I eat?"

"Sure. Now sit." Kakashi brought out a tray of food and then disappeared while she began to gorge herself. It felt so good to sit at a real table and drink tea from a cup, even if it was kind of lonesome in the large dining room. She began to think about all the other things she'd missed while disguised as a cat and smiled. She'd be able to visit her friends and the people she worked with, even if she couldn't leave the village for a while. It felt good to be home

Itachi entered the dining room followed by Kakashi. The smooth, black cat glided gracefully and effortlessly toward her, as if he'd been doing it for months. She could just barely see the hint of Sharingan that shone through his eyes, making them a warm scarlet-brown.

"I'll clean this up for you, Sakura." Kakashi cleared the table and swept from the room.

"Arigato, Sensei." She turned to Itachi. "How are you feeling?" She waved him closer as a green glow emitted from her hand.

"Not bad, Sukoshi." The sleek, black cat sauntered up slowly to her and sat on his haunches.

She raised an eyebrow wryly at his bold-faced lie as she slowly started to heal his internal organs again. "Is Sasuke ok?"

Itachi shrugged elegantly and flicked his tail. "He is sulking."

"And the others?" Her fingers rubbed under his soft chin absentmindedly while she thought about ways to appease Sasuke. Here she had gone on this mission just to keep him safe and now he was experiencing the consequences with the rest of the captured ninja.

Itachi flicked his ear in irritation and stared at her while she gazed distractedly out the window at the courtyard and caressed him like he was her pet. "They'll be more content when they are not forced into small cages."

She shook her head to clear it. "Gomen nasai, Itachi-san. It's only temporary, I assure you. I'll talk to the Hokage about it later tonight."

"All right, Sukoshi." Itachi glanced over her shoulder at the man waiting patiently there. "Time to go back, Hatake-san?"

"Yep." Kakashi stood from leaning on the doorway. "The onsen is all yours, Sakura."

"Arigato, Sensei."

"No problem, Sakura." His eyebrow rose in amused wonder. "Or should I call you _Sukoshi_?"

She closed her eyes, chuckled and shook her head. "Please don't."

"Tsunade sent word. She'll be here in an hour. "

"I'll be ready, Sensei."

Sakura walked back to her room to find that the top half of the chest of drawers had been cleaned out and some of her own clothes were placed there. She took a long shower, reveling in the ability to enjoy something so simple as soap and hot water before she wrapped the robe around her and went out to soak in the soothing hot spring. For the next thirty minutes, she let her worries fade away. God, it felt good to be home.

Regretfully, she left the hot, relaxing soak and dressed to meet Tsunade. She was looking forward to catching up with her Shishou after such an arduous journey.

She was idly reading some of the titles on one of the large bookshelves when a deep voice shook her from her reverie.

"Hello, kitten," the large, blue-grey cat purred from her knee.

"Kisame-san! What are you doing in here?"

"He came with me."

She turned and grinned to see Tsunade entering the room. "Shishou!"

"Otsukaresama deshita, Sakura." Tsunade smiled warmly and came over to hug her. "I'm so happy to see you home safe."

"Yeah, I had a few moments when I thought that wasn't going to happen." She saw Kakashi quietly enter the room.

"Hey, you got anything good to eat, kitten? If not, I see there is a fish pond in the yard." Kisame licked his chops.

"Those koi are for Sakura to enjoy, not for you to snack on," Tsunade growled.

"Whatever you say, beautiful, but I'm starving." Kisame rubbed up against Tsunade's knee and jumped up in her lap when she sat on the couch.

"You're heavy!" she complained, pushing him off till he lay at her side.

"Kisame-san, I can find you something to eat if you'll come with me," Kakashi suggested.

"Forget it, Kakashi. Get Genma to feed him. I need you to do something else for me."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Kakashi was gone for only a few seconds before he returned with Genma in tow.

"Genma, feed this guy and keep an eye on him while we're gone." Tsunade shoved the huge cat that snuggled up against her off of the couch.

"Don't miss me too much, babe," Kisame purred at the blonde before following Genma to the kitchen.

"Tch, _as if_," Tsunade spat as the door slid closed behind the big, gray cat. "Sakura," she hissed, "where the _hell_ did you find _him_?"

"Actually," she chuckled at Kisame's, uh, _friendliness_ with her Shishou, "he was the first one to come under the enchantment. He loves a good fight but, ah, he seems to have a softer side, too. He was very kind to me when I was at the base and allowed me to use his sword when I found a little trouble on the way home."

Tsunade raised one eyebrow. "Trouble?"

Her cheeks reddened. "Um…Sasuke-kun—"

Tsunade nodded and held up her hand. "Say no more right now," she cautioned. "Kakashi collect the Uchiha boys and bring them here." Tsunade rose and stretched. It had been a long day and it wasn't anywhere near over yet.

She walked over to look out the window at the beautiful koi pond the team had cleaned up for Sakura to enjoy. Tsunade smirked when she thought of how Kisame had spent most of the day in her office, flirting shamelessly with her whenever they were alone. He'd been too big to fit into the cages and behaved terribly until she'd agreed to let him come to work with her in the Tower. After which, he'd promised to be as meek as a kitten—yeah, right. She'd had Shikamaru babysit him in a side office whenever she had to meet with someone—she couldn't reveal any of Konoha's goings-on to the captured Akatsuki ninja.

It had taken all of her willpower not to crack open a bottle of sake while working. Sighing, she remembered that she still had to talk with the rest of the captives tomorrow morning—she had a meeting with Neko-chan tonight. Boy, were they ever going to have their hands full with this bunch.

"Sakura, Neko-baa is back and we are going to have a talk with her tonight. She's waiting at my place. We'll stop at Manja's on the way to pick up an extra large order of sushi to share with the kittens."

Sakura's eyes lit up. "The kittens are here?"

"Yes. And they're already asking for you. We can't just walk out of the Uchiha district, so we'll use a transportation jutsu to go to your apartment and head out from there. The rest of the team working with you has the details all worked out on security and will fill you in later."

Kakashi sauntered up the long hallway preceded by the two black Uchiha cats. Ears laid back and eyes narrowed, Sasuke was growling under his breath at Itachi, who chose to ignore him, only looking forward.

They didn't make it to the end of the hallway before Sasuke launched himself at his brother's back.

With a hiss of frustration Sasuke tried to latch onto Itachi, only narrowly missing as the older cat smoothly slipped under his grasp. Sasuke wasted no time turning and driving back at him, ramming Itachi in his side and knocking hard him into the wall before Kakashi swiftly took hold of the scruff of Sasuke's neck and lifted him up while he scratched and clawed, trying to find purchase.

Sakura rushed forward and picked up Itachi, monitoring him to see if he was injured while Sasuke's cold stare accused her of betrayal. As soon as she ascertained Itachi was unharmed, she set him down and walked over to Kakashi to check on Sasuke who refused to let her near.

"Neko-chan is waiting to talk to you, Sasuke-kun," Tsunade informed him. "Do you think you can behave long enough to hear her out, or do you want to go back to your cage and wait for her to come visit another day?"

"Hn." Sasuke's ears spasmed in irritation, but he relaxed in Kakashi's hands, so his sensei set him back down on the floor with a pat on the head. Sasuke gave him a furious look as his tail began twitching angrily.

"If you're done acting foolish, we can go," Tsunade added, opening the door to the courtyard and leading them outside.

"We'll have to carry you two since you can't use jutsu and we need to go to Sakura's apartment first." Tsunade picked up Itachi, leaving Sasuke to go to Sakura.

Sasuke looked at Sakura with a high level of mistrust. Just what kind of mess had he gotten himself into and why hadn't they let him take his revenge against his brother? Itachi should be locked up in the deepest levels of ANBU prison right now, being tortured for everything he had done. Instead, there he was, being carted around by the damn Hokage no less, like he was an honored guest of the village. What the hell was going on? He had a lot of questions for Neko-baa.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura kneeled before him, waiting for him to come. He flicked his tail in irritation and jumped into her waiting arms.

A swift jutsu later and they were standing in Sakura's dusty, little apartment, and then leaving through the front door. Tsunade had set Itachi down and warned them both that if they didn't follow quietly and stay close, they would go straight back to lock up for a month until Baa-chan's next visit.

They followed the women to a popular sushi restaurant and waited outside near Sakura while Tsunade went to get her order.

When Itachi noticed Sasuke glaring at him while they waited, he deliberately rubbed up against Sakura's bare legs—going so far as to put his front paws on her knees and purr for a scratch. Sasuke seethed at how she smiled and bent to oblige the clan killer, stroking his back and the space between Itachi's ears. Watching them, Sasuke had to stomp down the desire to attack again—he had to be able to talk to Neko-baa and convince her to change him back.

He was bitter and tired after staying up all night to make sure Itachi didn't find a way out of his cage. He'd been forced to watch his brother, just three feet away, sleep peacefully after he'd come back from talking to Sakura. And why was _she_ so interested in talking to such a vile murderer anyhow, he wondered.

As they waited, the warmth of the evening air began to make him feel sluggish. He suppressed a huge yawn as he watched and plotted how best to seek his revenge. Finally, Tsunade came back with a large bag and they set off for the Hokage's residence.

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Grass Country

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"Are you sure you know where you're going, Karin?" Juugo asked her for the tenth time that day. He looked around at the peaceful, scenic trail they followed and it seemed like no other people had been around recently.

Juugo had been talking to some of the animals on the trail and had gotten very little information from them. The only fact of significance they'd told him was that there had been a predator in the area killing hundreds of small animals some time back. It seems the slayer left the carcasses littering the forest floor, uneaten, but it had since disappeared.

While it was interesting, this information didn't help their search at all. There was no reason that Akatsuki would waste time hunting massive quantities of small game. They were warmongers. They had much bigger fish to fry. Juugo scratched his head. "This just doesn't seem like the kind of countryside where an evil organization would be hiding."

"God! Will you assholes stop asking me that? You act like you don't trust me!" Karin pushed her glasses up her nose and crossed her arms irritably.

"We _don't_ trust you, tramp," Suigetsu jeered. "You've led us all across the country on a wild goose chase so you could try to honeymoon with your _Sasuke_-_kun_."

"I was only trying to help Sasuke-kun."

"Yeah, whatever. Are we getting close yet or what?"

"It won't be much further, I think. We should be there by tonight."

"There's some trees up ahead. Let's stop there and take a break."

"All you ever do is _take_ _breaks_."

"And all _you_ ever do is _bitch_! I'm a water nin and we're on land, woman! If we travelled by water, I'd leave you all in the dust."

"But I promised Sasuke-kun I'd find his brother! If he catches up to us and we haven't found Itachi, he is gonna be mad."

Suigetsu laughed and spoke quietly enough so that only Juugo could hear. "Sasuke's probably still busy interrogating, _cough_, screwing, _cough, _that hot little pinky."

"Shut up! I heard that! Stupid, Suigetsu!"

"Yeah? Well, you had to face reality sooner or later. I wouldn't be surprised if he followed that little pinky all the way home."

"Oh, look!" Juugo tried unsuccessfully to distract the fighting duo. "There's a little brook next to those trees. Let's get some fish for dinner. Suigetsu, why don't you start a fire while I go fishing and, Karin…"

"_MY_ SASUKE-KUN WOULDN'T _TOUCH_ THAT WASTE OF SPACE, WASHED OUT, SCRAWNY—"

"_YOUR_ SASUKE-KUN HAD HIS HANDS _ALL OVER _THAT SMOKIN' HOT CHICK! AND ANOTHER THING, I—"

Juugo sighed. He saw that, no matter what he said, the others would not stop fighting, so he left for the stream alone while they worked through their, ahem, differences of opinion.

Little did they know that they were _all_ being watched by someone else.

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Chabudai-a short-legged table used in traditional Japanese homes. People seated at a chabudai may sit on zabuton cushions and/or tatami rather than on chairs. The four legs of a chabudai are collapsible so that the table may be moved and stored easily.

Kotatsu-a table with a removable top that you can put a quilted blanket and a heater underneath—they are popular in cooler weather.

Tatami-tatami mats are woven flooring mats usually used in traditional Japanese homes. It is natural to describe the size of the room by the number of mats that fit on the floor. They are about three by six feet.

Skinship-bathing naked together, hehe, naked bonding with Genma…hmm.

Otsukaresama deshita- Good job, or good work (today).

Okaeri nasai-Welcome home.

Tadaima-I'm back (home)

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Reviews =Love=Author's Inspiration=Faster Updates


	22. Chapter 22 We are Always Searching

DNON

Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter 22-We are Always Searching

Whenever the cat of the house is black, the lasses of lovers will have no lack.—Folk saying—author unknown.

A/N-Wow, this was another long chapter for me—5k. These long ones always take me a few extra weeks. A lot of transition is happening so I guess it can be expected. In case you are wondering, this will not be a day-by-day or week-by-week kind of story. I will not be showing every minute of a three year mission but trust me, I do still have a story to tell. I hope you still enjoy it as the gang settles into their new digs and the plot twists and turns.

Thanks so much, Sakura's Unicorn, the artist formerly known as Sakura's Indecision, for editing. I'll probably still slip and say SI once in a while, but you'll know who I mean, right?

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Grass Country—

Team Taka walked up to the charred hunk of earth in the middle of the forest silently, each of them nervous that this would be the end of the trail, each afraid that this would lead to nothing.

They had been walking for an hour through the green forest before Karin stopped in front of what appeared to be some sort of battlefield full of blackened, charred debris.

There was nothing there. No sign of people, no clues—nothing.

Suigetsu broke the uncharacteristic silence.

"Oh great_. That's just great. _Now what?"

"Karin, do you sense anything?" Juugo asked, setting an encouraging hand on her shoulder that she abruptly brushed off.

The redhead looked around the ruins and sighed. "The lingering chakra is much stronger here. They _were_ here—they all were. Itachi, Hoshigaki—even Sakura, I think." She bit her fingernail.

"And now?"

Karin shook her head. "No…but there's something."

She turned to the east and, walking steadily toward them, appeared a woman with blue hair. She wore the unmistakable black and red cloak of the Akatsuki.

Suigetsu unfastened his sword and Juugo turned to watch their backs. "Akatsuki do not travel alone, Suigetsu. Should we run?"

"Where to? We don't even know which way to go yet. There may well be more of them, too. Stay calm for now, Juugo. Let's just hear what they have to say. Then, if they want a fight, we'll have some fun."

Suigetsu tried to keep the mood light because Sasuke wasn't here to calm Juugo if he turned into the monster.

"Karin?"

"Yeah?"

"Keep monitoring the area and, if there's more, give me a sign."

"What kind of sign?"

"I don't know. Something different, but it has to seem normal. I know. For each one presence you sense beyond her," he nodded at the blue-haired woman, "give me a compliment."

"Huh?"

"Well, you're always insulting me. I might think there are dozens by the time we've talked to her for five minutes. If you do something you usually don't, I will understand you, but she won't get suspicious. Do you think you can handle that? If we get any useful information from her, we'll split."

"You _would_ think of something stupid and perverted," Karin snapped.

"You got a better plan?" Suigetsu growled at her. "Cause if you do, you got about ten seconds to share, smartass."

"Fine. Just keep her talking so she doesn't know what I'm doing. You know I'm not made for combat. I'm a sensor nin."

"You're a pain in my ass."

"Shut up, Sui!"

"Maybe you should practice once to see if you can do it—before she gets here," Juugo suggested.

"Yeah," Suigetsu agreed.

"You are a pompous pig!" Karin hissed.

"Yeah, uh, is _that_ a compliment?"

"Karin-san, perhaps it would be easier just to tell him that you love him for each one—like you do with Sasuke-sama. That might be easier to count."

"No way, Juugo," both ninja jeered together.

"Fine," Karin relented. "Suigetsu you…you have pretty colored eyes."

"Do you really think so?"

"No."

"Bitch."

"I'll kill you myself, Suigetsu!"

"Like to see you try, Miss, _oh, protect me, Suigetsu, I'm not a real ninja. I can only sniff them out like a bloodhound." _Suigetsu mimicked in a girlish voice.

"Omai!" Karin made a fist at him and shook it threateningly.

"Too late." Juugo warned them. "She's here."

"Domo." Konan stopped a dozen feet from the small group.

Suigetsu nodded and Juugo greeted the pretty, blue-haired woman properly.

Karin turned to Suigetsu. "Sui, I, ah, love your big…sword."

The woman raised her eyebrow and Suigetsu grinned wickedly, trying like hell not to laugh.

"That's very kind of you Karin," Juugo added, trying to cover for her odd conversation. "His sword is very big."

Suigetsu laughed out loud.

Karin punched his arm in anger, but as another chakra signature registered, she squeezed his bicep, saying, "And you're so _strong_."

"Excuse me for intruding," Konan spoke. "I'd like to ask a few questions."

"Suigetsu, your, ah, teeth, they ah, match your…hair?" Karin went on and Suigetsu looked at her, starting to become alarmed.

"And I, uh, _like_ you?" Karin finished.

"God damn! _That_ many?" Suigetsu asked Karin and she nodded.

"Three of them have similar, um, feelings for you."

"Shit!" Suigetsu put his sword down and stepped protectively in front of Karin. "Alright, lady, you got us surrounded. What the hell do you want?"

Konan smiled at them and nodded. "Pein. Zetsu."

Four men surrounded them. Three of them did have similar qualities—orange hair and purple, ripple-patterned eyes along with numerous piercings. The fourth was downright creepy—gold eyes and black and white skin, divided evenly on his body with a huge vegetative growth around his neck. "Good job, Karin. Looks like you were right on."

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Konoha

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Uchiha district

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The bright yellow and white cat sat in his cage yowling loudly while the rest sent menacing stares and shouted the occasional threat on his life.

"Sakura-chan!"

"Sak-ur-a-chaaan!"

"Sakura-chan!"

"Sakura-chan!"

"Sak-uurr-aa-chaan!"

"Sakura-chan!"

"Sak—"

The door opened and Sai walked in.

"May I ask, what is the matter, fuzzy?"

"I wanna see Sakura-chan."

"Sakura-san is indisposed until tomorrow morning. Would you like to give me your complaint?"

"I'm hungry and I wanna get outta here!"

"I will bring your dinner, but you are not allowed out of your holding cell until the Hokage has decided what to do with you. You will find out tomorrow."

"Where's the damn Uchiha and Hoshigaki?" Deidara huffed. "How come _they_ got to come out?"

"I do not know their fate. Perhaps they are being executed as we speak."

"What!" five voices cried in unison.

"I was just kidding," Sai said with a completely emotionless face and then he smiled an eerie, fake smile that made the cats shiver in their cages and shrink to the back wall of their tiny prisons. "I will bring your dinner now." Sai left the room and returned minutes later with five bowls of a mysterious-looking meat and placed one in each of their cages.

Deidara was the first to brave a sniff of his.

"Gross! What the hell is this shit? Dog food?"

"No. It's cat food."

Sai shut the door as he left.

"We are sooo fucked," groaned Hidan. "I _told_ you asshole fuckers to let me kill that damn white rat!"

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Tsunade and Sakura escorted the Uchiha brothers through Konoha to the Hokage's residence.

They were greeted just inside the entry by a golden-eyed, gray cat blocking their way.

"Sakura-chan, you're back! Did you bring me yums, nya?"

Sakura smiled and crouched down to greet her friend.

"Denka-san! How have you been?"

"Nyah, I am always good, Sakura-chan! I see you've managed to capture your prey, nya." He looked craftily at the two cats standing behind her and laughed.

Itachi's tale flicked in annoyance and Sasuke growled. Denka leaped around Sakura to stand in front of them.

"Nya, I am ninja warrior neko, Denka!" He lorded over them, standing proud. "I am the one who trained Sakura-chan to capture you fools!"

Both cats growled at him.

"You're the only fool here, Denka!" a voice spoke from the corner. A large orange tabby joined them.

"Hina-san, how nice to see you!" Sakura bowed slightly to the elder cat.

"Nya, Sakura-san." Hina bowed her head politely before returning her attention to her partner. "Denka, quit acting the fool and do your _job_."

Denka stepped in front of the smooth-haired, black cat. "State your name, stranger, and be known here."

"Uchiha Itachi."

Denka nodded. "And you…fluffy?" he asked Sasuke.

Sasuke hissed at him.

Denka sat up straight on his hind legs and crossed his arms at his chest. "State your name, _son_, or you will not be given an audience with my lady. Only _friends_ may come to see my mistress. All others will know pain and_ I_ will bestow it."

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Denka jumped back in surprise, landing on four feet on the dark-blue, tiled floor. "Sasuke-kun, is that you? Don't you remember me?"

"Yes," Sasuke growled softly. Sakura could see Sasuke was becoming more and more aggravated. The tip of his tail whipped back and forth restlessly and the hair on his neck started to rise.

"_Well_, I can see that you do not yet appreciate the _honor_ bestowed upon you of becoming a cat," Denka purred with superiority. "At least you brought us some catnip for passage, like last time, nya, Sasuke-kun?" An inquisitive gleam sparkled in the gray cat's golden eyes.

"Denka-san," Itachi, who knew his brother's short temper well, interrupted before a fight broke out. "We've been on a long journey and had no chance to bring you that sort of gift. However, Hokage-sama brought some sushi with her. I believe, from the appetizing smell, that it will be an acceptable offering."

"Why didn't you say so, nya? You may enter." Denka bowed regally and let them pass. After which, Hina smacked him on the head.

"Baka!" the older, female cat scolded. "Why do you have to embarrass me every time?"

"Nya, Hina-sama, you never let me have any fun."

"We're on duty. Let's join the others."

"Sakura-chan!" The cat-eared woman greeted the girl with a hug. "I am so happy you've come back safe, child." She held the young kunoichi out at arm's length and checked her over to make sure she was ok. "And you brought _both_ the boys with you. How fortuitous."

"Yes, Baa-chan. I am very happy to be home—and _very_ lucky to be alive."

"There were a few times in particular when I felt you were in mortal danger, Sakura," Tsunade nodded, taking a seat at the table next to Neko-chan.

"Yes," Sakura agreed, looking a bit self-conscious. "Itachi-san saved me twice while I was in cat form. When Hidan burned me badly with a fireball and put a pike through my ear, Itachi healed me." She showed them the scars on her ear and went on to say, "Then he helped me hide when the man I believe to be Uchiha Madara was searching for me."

There was dead silence in the room for nearly a minute as they all digested what Sakura had just said. Finally the youngest among them broke the silence.

"Uchiha Madara died almost ninety years ago, Sakura," Sasuke scoffed. "We learned _that_ the first year of Academy."

"I'm afraid not, Sasuke-kun."

"She is correct, Hokage-sama." Itachi said stepping forward.

"Baa-chan, do you want to do it?" Tsunade pointed toward the elder brother.

"Come here, Itachi-kun." Neko laid her hands on him and, before their eyes, he became a full-grown man again. As soon as he stood on two feet, he was flanked by both Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi. Despite the fact that Itachi gave no resistance, Shikaku held him frozen in place with the Nara family's shadow jutsu as a precaution.

"Uchiha Itachi, Yamanaka-san is going to take over and read your mind while you answer our questions to make sure you do not lie to us. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"If you engage your Sharingan, you will be considered hostile and _treated_ as such. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Itachi calmly stood and let Inoichi perform his jutsu without a struggle.

"You say that Uchiha Madara is alive?"

"Yes."

"And is a member of the organization calling itself Akatsuki?"

He nodded. "I believe he is running it, although he does not appear to be in the leadership position. Right now, he goes under the assumed name of Tobi with a different personality."

Tsunade looked to Inoichi for confirmation and he nodded.

"And he is in Konoha right now? At the Uchiha compound?"

"Yes," The elder Uchiha brother confirmed with a nod, "although his capture was almost the end of the little kunoichi. I do not know how she found him out, but he somehow discovered the kunoichi also wasn't what she seemed to be. Even then, he did not inform the other members of the organization. If he had, she would be long dead. I believe it was because she somehow figured out he was an Uchiha and he was not ready to reveal his true identity to the rest of the Akatsuki."

Tsunade held up her hand and Itachi fell silent.

"Itachi, I need to know something. Did you plan the Uchiha massacre?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Liar!" Sasuke yowled.

"But I did execute it," Itachi added, looking at his brother with what appeared to be a hint of regret in his dark eyes.

"I didn't find out who was behind it until it was over. Danzo, Madara, along with a few others. The whole thing was carefully planned."

Sasuke growled. How could they just believe what he was saying? He was the _fucking enemy_!

"Madara worked both sides, Hokage-sama. He orchestrated the Uchiha rebellion and the subsequent massacre, which I helped him carry out."

"That's bullshit!" Sasuke hissed. "Why would Uchiha Madara want to destroy his own clan?"

"Simply because they disobeyed him, otouto. Surely you have witnessed firsthand the lengths some men will go to for power—or revenge." Sasuke flinched as if he'd been hit and Itachi sighed. "When the clan wanted peace, he wanted power. Everyone thought him dead, and that's the way he wanted it. He stayed out of sight and waited. When the opportunity presented itself to steal the Kyuubi and crush Konoha, he attacked."

"That _bastard_," Tsunade growled. So many mysteries were starting to make sense.

"Madara failed when Minato thwarted him and both Uzumaki Kushina and the Fourth gave their lives, making their newborn son, Naruto, the new jinchuuriki. But he didn't fail completely."

Sasuke stood transfixed as Itachi explained further—a new feeling of horror creeping over him.

"The Third knew that only an Uchiha with the Sharingan could control the Nine-Tails, but he didn't know _who_ had released it. Every person that witnessed the releasing of the Nine-Tails was dead. Behind the scenes, Madara threw suspicion on the Uchiha. Meanwhile, he also incited the Uchiha to rebel against the regime—to destroy Konoha and its citizens that they had previously vowed to protect. The Uchiha were the only ones strong enough to stand in Madara's way, so he had them removed."

"That's impossible," Sasuke murmured.

"It's the truth," Inoichi confirmed soberly.

Sasuke suddenly remembered how he'd accused Naruto of not understanding the pain of losing family because he had none. But the reason Naruto had no family was because his family—the head of _his own clan during the founding of the village_—had forced Naruto's parents to sacrifice their lives to save the village and make their son become a jinchuuriki—a monster—so that he was hated by everyone as he grew up.

He couldn't believe it. This story would make his whole life a lie. Sasuke sat down heavily, trying to take it all in.

"Troublesome," Shikaku finally spoke up. "What would Danzo get from wiping out powerful allies like the Uchiha?"

"He got to work on what he wanted to do without the peacekeepers of Konoha checking up on him. The Uchiha were the only ones, beside the Hokage, who had the authority to monitor and police him. And perhaps there was one more thing."

"What's that?"

"I would rather speak of it to you later, personally, Hokage-sama," Itachi requested. Tsunade nodded her approval and he continued.

"The Third Hokage tried to stop the massacre, but he was too late. There were too many factors already in place working against him. There was no going back and I could not let my family destroy the village. All the Hokage could do was protect Sasuke while I left to keep an eye on Madara."

"Why haven't you communicated with Konoha since then?"

"The Third was killed. There was no clear way to tell if you were loyal to the Third or Danzo," Itachi told Tsunade truthfully. "Danzo had yet to make a move for power, so I wasn't sure if he was controlling you or not. When it was necessary to warn Danzo off, I came to take care of it myself."

"Uchiha Itachi, your mission with Akatsuki is officially over. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"I have a new mission for you. Do you accept?"

"Anything for my village, Hokage-sama." Itachi bowed respectfully.

Tsunade nodded and both Inoichi and Shikaku released Itachi from their jutsu.

"I will fill you in later. First, I want to know what happened on the way back from Grass." She looked at Sasuke. "Do you have anything to say about that, Uchiha Sasuke?"

The long-haired, black cat sniffed and his dark eyes shifted away. He wasn't going to say a thing until her got to speak to Neko-baa about his freedom.

Tsunade turned to her apprentice whose eyes also avoided her.

"Sakura?"

Sakura began to fidget. "I, uh, was traveling back through Grass, almost to Fire's border, when I ran into Sasuke," Sakura admitted, crossing and uncrossing her arms before smoothing her skirt nervously. "Well, what happened was…ah, I don't really know how to explain. It was an accident, Hokage-sama."

Ino's father put his hand firmly on top of her head to stop her and she flinched.

"She's lying, Hokage-sama. I saw it in Itachi-san's memories. Uchiha Sasuke attacked her and she's trying to _protect_ him."

"N-no! Not really. He didn't hurt me." She couldn't look her shishou in the eye. "It wasn't…_all_ his fault. I said some pretty mean things to—"

"_Haruno Sakura_!" Sakura winced as Ino's dad gave her the stern, fatherly look he always did whenever he'd caught her and Ino in a fib. "Are you calling me a _liar_?"

Her face aflame, she bowed quickly to him. "No, Yamanaka-san. Gomen nasai." She turned and bowed to Tsunade speaking quickly. "Sasuke-kun's teammate challenged me because he wanted…" Her face grew more inflamed. "Uh, Hoshigake-san's sword, but after I defeated him, Sasuke grew very angry with me."

Tsunade raised her eyebrow, crossed her arms and waited for the rest of the truth.

"He noticed that I was wearing Itachi-san's shirt because of the Uchiha crest on the back of the collar."

"And you were wearing Itachi's shirt because…"

"Because I ripped hers off when I caught her in my bed," Itachi informed them truthfully when Sakura kept silent.

Sasuke glared at his brother and her, which made Sakura turn even more red. She imagined that soon smoke would begin to rise from her ears.

"It's _not_ what you think!" she sputtered before continuing. "S-Sasuke called off his team and told them to leave, but when we were alone and I refused to divulge my mission, he lost his temper and…and then he grabbed the choker that Baa-chan gave me. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen to me, and he ended up reciting the spell."

Tsunade's eye twitched. She knew Sakura was deliberately leaving information out, but even the little she heard was enough to make her want to pound the ungrateful, little brat.

"Uchiha Sasuke, is this true?" Neko-baa-chan gave him an unforgiving look and he backed up and bowed his head.

"Hai, Baa-san."

"Serves you right then, _naughty boy_!" Neko-chan wagged her finger at Sasuke. "You should be _ashamed_ of your behavior. I think the punishment fits the crime. You can just _stay_ like that along with your brother, for the full term of the spell."

"But, Baa-chan, I—"

"I don't want to hear it, young man! This dear, young woman—your _teammate_, no less—put herself in an _extremely_ dangerous situation to keep you safe at my request and you behaved absolutely abominably—_both_ of you. Sakura-chan, come here."

"I'm sorry that I lied, Neko-baa," Sakura said softly as she kneeled in front of her.

"Nonsense, child." She hugged the pink-haired girl. "It was harmless. Itachi-kun?"

"Hai, Baa-chan."

"Do you have something to say to this young woman?" Neko looked very unhappy with the boys.

Uchiha Itachi walked over to stand in front of Neko-baa and Sakura before he bowed deeply. "I am sorry if I hurt you, Sukoshi." Itachi said remorsefully. Then he smirked devilishly as his eyes flicked to Sasuke sitting with his ears laid back and his tail twitching. "And I am sorry for tearing off your clothes and molesting you in my bedroom."

"Don't say it like _that_!" Sakura squeaked, putting her too-hot face into her hands. "_Nothing happened_!"

"Itachi!" Neko-chan chastised the young man, patting Sakura's head. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. He's always had a mischievous sense of humor. You'll have to be firm with him while he's in your care."

"Baa-chan, nyan! Baa-chan!" the little group of kittens cried out, running into the room to climb over her and Sakura. "Can Sakura-chan come to play now? Please, nya! We've waited so long, nya. _Please_," the kittens chorused.

"It's alright with me if Sakura wants to. Sakura?"

Sakura nodded happily and Baa-chan put her hand on Sakura's brow and recited words that were now familiar, turning Sakura back into a little, white cat.

"Nyan! Sakura-chan! Come on. Let's play." The kittens piled on to her until, with a strong leap, she left the furry pile. They chased after her, out of the room. She only spared a single glance back at Sasuke, who narrowed his eyes angrily and turned away.

"There is another task that I have for both of you as well." Tsunade looked pointedly at both Uchiha boys after Sakura left the room.

"No damn way—"

"_Shut up and let me speak, brat_. You may not like it. In fact, I _know_ you won't like this, but both of your lives depend on its success. So, listen up."

A mission for both of them? Sasuke and Itachi looked at each other suspiciously.

Then they looked at her quizzically.

"While you are in custody, you two will be protecting Sakura at all times. Neko-chan, could you please tell them about the spell?"

"Come here, Sasuke-kun." She picked up Sasuke and put him in her lap while Tsunade touched the bell at her throat, turning Itachi back into his feline form.

"Sakura has probably already told you that the spell lasts for three years and that if either she or Tsunade were to die, you would remain as cats for the rest of your natural lives." The boys nodded and she went on.

"What Sakura doesn't know yet is that there are a few more…anomalies to this spell that have to do with the course of the moon's changes. Itachi, Sakura changed back earlier than she expected, didn't she? That was how you caught her?"

"Aa. She fell asleep on my bed as a cat and, when I woke the next morning, a pretty girl lay there."

She nodded. "I imagine you gave her quite a scare."

Itachi chuckled. And Sasuke's fur rose on his back. Neko-baa smoothed his fur and continued on.

"The changes of the moon ebb and flow. So it is with a spell this powerful. There must be give and take. Sakura has given much so far, but more will be asked of her in the coming months and years. And I fully expect both of you to put aside your differences for now and stand beside her."

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked, not happy about not being able to exact his revenge immediately, as was his _right_.

"Sakura has accepted that she must care for her wards of the spell for the entire three years, but there will be times when it will be dangerous, especially for her. The spell took effect at the coming of the new moon. Therefore, every time the new moon is born, you men who are under the spell will return to your human forms for approximately one full day. The contract still holds," she warned shaking a finger at them. "If you move too far from them or if Sakura or Tsunade die, you will all become cats for life, unable to speak except as a cat. Your transformation will revert after the first full day of the new moon and you'll be cats for the rest of each month. Conversely, at the time of every full moon, Sakura will turn back into her cat form. Tsunade also bears the weight of the spell, but the transformation will only occur with Sakura as she has taken on the bulk of the responsibility because she is the one who actually took on the feline form and cast the spell on each individual. You can easily imagine, I would guess, just how dangerous it would be to keep her around those others when she turns back into a cat. Some might even foolishly test my warnings and attempt to kill her, thereby leaving you all to your fate."

"What does that have to do with us?" Sasuke asked gruffly.

"You will be responsible for keeping Sakura safe and away from the Uchiha district while she is in cat form."

"Why us?"

"Because you have the most to lose if something happens to her—one or both of you will remain at her side."

"Where are we supposed to keep her?" Itachi inquired.

"In her apartment—it's both safe and inconspicuous. It's only one day a month. She will still have some work to do in the lab and the hospital, so it will not seem unusual to the others that she is gone. And the captives will have some freedom to roam the Uchiha district, so not all of you will be at the house at the same time. If you two are gone at times, you will not be missed. Plus, I plan to offer a few of the others the chance to, well, work, for want of a better word. You will not all be forced to remain behind bars, staring at each other for the next three years…if you behave."

"And what about Madara?"

"I will have to see about him."

"He is still using his alter ego, Tobi. I believe he still may think his secret is safe."

"I will have you brought to my office later this week for a full report of Akatsuki business, Itachi. Are there still many more Akatsuki?"

Itachi shook his head. "Not many, but still some of the most dangerous. I wouldn't underestimate their skills at finding us."

"I expect you two to work together to keep Sakura safe." Neko-chan insisted. "The others are not to find out about her returning to cat form once a month. It would be too easy to kidnap her and take her out of the village. One of you should always stay close to her, too, unless she's working."

"Of course, Baa-chan. Staying close to Sukoshi won't be a problem for _me_."

Sasuke growled something about it being safer to keep Itachi away from her.

Suddenly, Sakura slid around the corner of the room and raced toward them, chased by a half-dozen laughing kittens. She loped across the room and dove into a pile of brightly colored throw pillows. The rest of the kittens piled over the pillow mountain and landed on top of her. Giggling breathlessly, Sakura climbed out from under the pile of squirming, furry fun and walked over to where Neko-baa sat. Neko-baa picked her up and put her in her lap next to Sasuke. Sakura closed her eyes and purred contentedly until the kittens unwound themselves from the confused pile to see she had escaped them. In no time, they were clambering into Neko-baa's lap, stepping on top of an irritated Sasuke to get to Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, come and play."

"I'm tired, guys," Sakura admitted to the mewling kittens.

"How about you then?" they asked Sasuke who pointedly ignored them, pretending to go to sleep. They turned to Itachi with pleading eyes.

"Baa-chan?" Itachi was asking if they were through.

"Go ahead, for now. Bring them back in a few minutes for some of the dinner that 'Nade brought for us."

Itachi nodded and flicked his tail at the eager little kittens before practically disappearing before their eyes. Not to be outdone, the kittens scrambled up over Sakura and Sasuke to try and catch up to the faster black cat. Sasuke growled at them and Sakura laughed softly, earning her own growl from the cross feline before he rose and left Neko-baa's lap to sit on the floor.

"Denka-kun, go with Itachi to make sure those kittens don't wear him out too much."

"Nya. Hai, Baa-chan. Save some yums for me!" Golden eyes gleamed and, with a flash of gray, he disappeared even faster than Itachi had.

"Sasuke-kun," Baa-chan placed her hand on his head and changed him to his human form. "I know it's hard, but I must ask you not to carry out your plans for now."

Sasuke looked around and found himself surrounded by Yamanaka and Nara. He turned back to the Hokage.

"I demand that he be punished. He must be put to death _immediately_."

"Now, Sasuke, don't be hasty." Tsunade warned. "There are still many things to learn and many more players in this than you, I, or even Itachi knew. We have to get to the bottom of this matter, not just for you, but your whole family and the safety of this village. You must not let the others know of our plans." She looked up. "Inoichi."

Suddenly Sasuke found he couldn't move. He was trapped in a Shadow Possession jutsu by Nara Shikaku and his mind was being invaded by Yamanaka Inoichi.

"Sasuke, don't fight it. We need to know that Orochimaru has not infiltrated your mind and if you still hold loyalty to Konoha. It will be over soon."

"Why not just _ask_ me?" he sneered.

"You've not exactly been cooperative, boy. There are many lives at stake here besides just your own. This mission could help keep Naruto safe, too. I'm sorry, but I can't let your pride get in the way."

"Naruto?" Sasuke clearly was trying to ignore the presence rifling through his mind by asking about his other teammate.

"If we can keep the Akatsuki from taking Naruto for the next three years, the rituals they have been doing will become useless. I'm sure you know something about this from Orochimaru?"

Sasuke grit his teeth at the intrusion in his memories. "Yes," he hissed through clenched teeth as he endured the invasion of his mind while Sakura watched him with sad, green eyes.

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Reviews=Love=Author's Inspiration


	23. Chapter 23 Suffercating

DNON

Well, I'm back. A little later then I wanted with the update. I actually lost the file that had this chapter over a third completed, plus it had chapter notes for the rest, and couldn't remember what I wrote—it was maddening! I spent lots of time going through files to see if I had just misplaced it but I have literally _hundreds_ of story files. In the end I think it was definitely deleted when I was cleaning some stuff up last month, so there it is. I had to completely start over and it took time to get back into the groove. Oh well. I hope you enjoy it anyway and I have already started the next chapter of co9t and fk—safely backed up, no worries—so it won't take so long before the next update.

Thank you, Sakura's Unicorn, for all the time you spend editing for me. I know you're busy, especially with your own stuff you're trying to put up for Sasuke/Sakura month.

K&K

Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter 23 Suffer-cating

_Men are like a fine wine. They all start out like grapes, and it's our job to stomp on them and keep them in the dark until they mature into something you'd like to have dinner with.-_Kathleen Mifsud

_The man who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself._  
Friedrich Nietzsche

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The special jounin rifled through Sasuke's mind for hours, making sure he was not an imminent threat to Konoha. In fact, with the successful assassination of Orochimaru, he had assured his welcome into Konoha with a minimum of trouble—except for the fact that he'd already been captured while accosting his former teammate.

In lieu of a formal punishment, the Hokage agreed with Baa-chan that being in cat form for three years would be punishment enough for Sasuke if he agreed to recommit himself to serving the village. In return, Tsunade guaranteed that she would get the full story of the Uchiha murders and give him the justice he desired.

Sasuke hated the fact that Sakura had watched him during the interrogation. Her pathetic, sad gaze made him angry—it was _her_ fault he was here in the first place. Eventually, she had fallen asleep in Neko-baa's lap as the old woman stroked her fur.

When Itachi returned, he also endured a turn under the interrogators' concentration. Sasuke watched him suffer the same treatment until Nara and Yamanaka found everything that they wanted. Then the Hokage discussed their missions in detail—to investigate not only the supposed Uchiha conspirators, but also the Akatsuki newly ensnared in the Uchiha district.

Sasuke, back in his cat form, sat at the table, rapt while the interrogation of his brother took place. If this grilling had taken place in Ibiki's Department of Torture and Interrogation, there was no way he would have been able to witness it. He found out a great deal of what Itachi knew both about the Akatsuki and Uchiha Madara.

Unexpectedly, Itachi's information about the orders to eliminate the Uchiha clan was limited. Sasuke found out that Itachi had indeed been given an order, but it had _not_ come from the Third Hokage—it came from Danzo and the Council. Itachi told them how Sarutobi spoke to him after the killings occurred and had given his word that Sasuke would be protected.

Itachi believed that, ultimately, Uchiha Madara was behind the whole thing. Sasuke scoffed openly at that, but Baa-chan had been quick to remind him that Itachi had only been thirteen years old at the time. No matter how brilliant he was, he was still a child. Baa-chan asked Sasuke how _he_ had come to be deceived into Orochimaru's service, knowing that the snake Sannin was an enemy of the village. He grumbled, but had no real answer to give her.

Baa-chan placed a long dish of delicacies in front of him and, when he started to turn his nose up at it, Tsunade slapped the table in front of him, making him jump up on all four feet straight into the air.

"Listen up, brat. Grow up and stop pouting. This is serious business, so if you can't cut it, let me know now. We are going to find _all_ parties responsible for this, but it's going to be _more_ than dangerous." She poured herself a double-shot of sake, drank it and poured another. "I won't tolerate any fuck-ups."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her as his fur rose on his back.

"You're going up against the heavy hitters here, boy—not just your aniki or one of the Sannin. This bunch is worse than devious in their practices—stripping Jinchuuriki and killing whole villages of innocents. One of these guys even played the whole Uchiha clan for a bunch of fools and _they_ considered themselves infallible. What makes you think he won't make a fool of you, too, genius?"

He gave her a dirty look while she downed another shot—she made it seem as if the booze didn't affect her in the slightest—like she was sucking down water.

"My former teammate, my _friend_, Orochimaru strove to be that strong and you've seen how twisted _his_ little operation ran, didn't you? He tried to use you, didn't he? He couldn't defeat even _one_ Uchiha. Our mystery nin defeated the _whole damn clan_. With or without help from inside sources, that's still pretty damn impressive. This Madara, I'm willing to bet that he has already set his sights on manipulating Itachi's otouto—maybe he'll tell you that he'll help you get your revenge or become stronger or some other lovely crap. Are you strong enough on your own to resist temptation _this time_?" she added unkindly.

'Son of a—' Sasuke thought. 'This woman is Sakura's _mentor_?' he steeled himself before answering. He told himself he wasn't going to back away from this like some scared little genin. "Yes, Hokage-sama," he growled out between clenched teeth.

"Good." Her manner changed completely and she patted him on the head. "Now then." She nudged him toward the food. "Don't be finicky, this is damn fine cuisine. You're a shinobi. You never know when the next meal is coming, so don't make yourself weak with starvation by showing too much pride over a little food. Got it?"

Tsunade placed a row of sushi before him and he reluctantly began to eat. He would never say it, but the sushi was delicious. They had not had a proper meal since Sakura purchased bentos on the way back to Konoha.

Tsunade watched with mild interest as the younger Uchiha scarfed down servings of the fantastic sushi. 'Huh?' she thought with some amusement. 'Is that little fluff-ball brat actually _purring_?'

"Sasuke-kun!"

The long-haired black straightened up and looked back guiltily at them with bits of sesame seeds stuck to his whiskers. Neko-chan's eyebrow rose in firm expectation and he winced—it seems that being out on the road had deteriorated his manners. Tsunade covered her mouth so he wouldn't see her smirk at Baa-chan's silent upbraiding.

"Gomen nasai." He bowed his head. "Itadakimasu."

'I forgot how much of a stickler for manners Neko-baa-chan was,' Sasuke thought as he said thanks for his food properly. She nodded at him approvingly and, licking his chops, he returned to his meal.

During Itachi's interrogation, Sakura had also changed back to human form without waking. He watched her sleeping out of the corner of his eye and wondered how she had survived a month living with the Akatsuki—cat form or not. He knew what it was like living with an enemy. It bothered him that she said Itachi had rescued her more than once at the base. He didn't want to think of his brother doing something nice. When he was younger, Sasuke had thought Itachi a hero—everything he always loved and wanted to be—until he had so cruelly disillusioned him.

So what was he supposed to do now? He couldn't spend the next three years in a fur suit. He wouldn't just let Itachi's crimes go unpunished, but he _was_ curious as to just how many hands had been involved in the murder of his clan. It appeared he owed a death to more than his brother alone.

He couldn't accomplish much as he was though.

Annoying girl. Why had she insisted he speak to the Hokage when they met? Why hadn't she just _told_ him about the spell? She used to trust him with her life and follow him around like a love-sick puppy. Now, she'd allowed him to recite the words inscribed on her collar and be captured with the rest.

Damn.

He stared at Itachi sitting near her now, talking to Baa-chan as if being a cat was the most natural damned thing in the world. His claws unsheathed and retracted instinctively as he watched them.

'Claws,' he scoffed to himself. 'What good would they be?'

Damn.

"Hokage-sama, would you like me to put Sakura some place where she could sleep more comfortably?"

"Yes, Shikaku. Put her in my room. She'll catch a chill sleeping out here."

"I'll do it." Inoichi pushed Nara away, hovering over Sakura like a typical, protective father. "Sakura's been in our house enough times. She'll be more comfortable with me carrying her."

Tsunade chuckled. "She's so worn out that I doubt she'd even stir when you pick her up, Inoichi. It's going to take a while for her to recover from such a difficult mission and I'm afraid I can't give her much time to rest before I have to count on her again. She has a lot on her plate."

"Well, I hate to say it, Hokage-sama, but I'm glad it wasn't Ino. From what I've seen, I don't think she would have come back alive from that horror. I'm amazed and a little disappointed that she volunteered to place her life on the line like she did. Her chances of success were so slim." His glance at the younger Uchiha conveyed a coldness that was glaringly obvious who he was disappointed in.

"Yes," Baa-chan agreed. "It's amazing what lengths we will go to for a loved one. Isn't it, Sasuke?"

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"Hurry up and find her, Karin. I've got better things to do with my time."

Team Hebi was wandering near the edges of their previous battle site where they'd lost sight of their leader and the girl he'd been questioning. Karin was trying to pick up traces of their trail, but the signatures were so distorted it was causing her problems.

"Suigetsu, perhaps it would be better if we remained calm." Juugo wished that Sasuke was here. He was getting anxious. He wasn't sure how long he could control his dark urges without the reassurance that Sasuke was around to quell them and he didn't really want to hurt the people he'd come to think of as his friends.

"Who can stay calm with that weird plant guy, the paper-cut lady, and those pierced guys threatening us? _Help us or die!_ Geez, ever heard of lying, Karin? I can't believe you spilled your guts to those freaks," Suigetsu complained. "Now, instead of looking for Sasuke, we're stuck working for _them_."

"Shut up, Suigetsu." Karin pushed her glasses back up her nose. "It's not like you could protect me from them, like Sasuke would've."

"Who'd want to protect _you_, bitch?"

"Sasuke-kun would!"

"Yeah, that's why he's getting his rocks off with Pinky right now."

Karin clouted him upside the head. "I told you not to talk like that!"

"What?! You know it's true. Why else would he chase after her?"

"To kill her!"

"If he wanted to kill her, I think he would've had no problem doing that right where they were and he wouldn't have held her like that. What he _wanted_ was a little privacy so he could f—"

"Suigetsu," Juugo interrupted anxiously just as Karin's face turned purple with rage. "Perhaps we should hurry and find the group that those ninja asked us to before they come back and—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I just had to inform _Jealous_ here that her Sasuke-kun was out having a good time—without her."

'Not that he ever had a good time _with_ her,' he thought.

"I'm not jealous!" Karin stomped her feet and shook her fist at the white-haired nuisance.

"You do look a little _green_, Karin" Suigetsu laughed.

"Suigetsu," Juugo tried to diffuse the volatile pair. "Do you really think that girl had something to do with those missing ninja?"

"Nah, I doubt it. But she did have Hoshigaki's sword, so she's the best lead we got."

"Why didn't you tell them about her having the sword?" Juugo asked.

"Because _then_ they'd want it _back_. I plan on taking that little treasure home myself."

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Early the next morning, Tsunade woke Sakura and they left the Hokage's home, traveling swiftly through the village to Sakura's apartment with the two Uchiha silently following.

"Sakura, I won't be able to come this way often. People will start to wonder if they see me visiting you too much. These two will be your eyes and ears from now on. They will be watching your back, so don't hesitate to use them if there's trouble."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Sakura looked doubtfully at Sasuke who was keeping his distance from them all. She wasn't sure that he wouldn't be the first to cause some of that trouble her Shishou spoke of.

They had barely arrived when there was a knock at Sakura's door. Tsunade bent and snatched Sasuke by the scruff of his neck before he could escape.

"Let's go, brat." She did a transportation jutsu and the two disappeared before Sasuke could protest.

Itachi looked at Sakura. "Are you going to answer that?"

She raised a brow at him and opened the door.

"Hey, Forehead! Dad said you were back in town. Did you have any fun in Suna?"

"Suna? Ah, not really. I spent most of my time in the hospital or lab."

"_Tch_. Did you at least meet any hot guys or go on any dates?"

Sakura blushed when she thought of her last day at the Akatsuki base and Itachi's _and_ Sasuke's manhandling of her. "No dates, Pig. I was there on a mission."

"What a drag. Well, you're home now. Let's hit the bar tonight and cut loose."

"I can't, Ino. I have work."

"You don't even get a few days off after such a long mission! That's unfair, Forehead."

"Fair or not, I have work piling up on my desk, so no bar. It's gonna take me at least a week to catch up."

"That's ridiculous! I'll pick you up Friday night. You need a night out. You're gonna dry up like an old prune in that stainless steel room with those beakers you love so much. You need some real _live_ flesh to rub up against once in a while."

"Wait, I just said I—"

"See ya Friday, Forehead. I'll be here at seven." She looked Sakura's rumpled appearance up and down. "Wear something that's not so…you. We're trying to _attract_ men." She waved and went down the stairs, leaving Sakura at the door with her mouth hanging open.

"Friend of yours, Sukoshi?" Itachi chuckled dryly.

She shut the door and gave him a dirty look. "Shut up."

She brushed past him and went to find her medical bag. She took a syringe from it and a couple of empty, capped vials, setting them on the table. Then she took hold of her collar and changed him back to human form.

"Roll up your sleeve, Itachi-san." she pulled an elastic ribbon from her bag and tied it around his arm.

"What's this for?"

"I need to examine your blood and learn why your body is at war with itself."

"It's a waste of time, Sukoshi." He watched her pink head as she bent over his arm extracting blood. He already knew what she would find. He'd known for years what was killing him. "It's incurable."

"It's my time to waste, Itachi-san." She put the vials in a baggie and set them inside her fridge until later. "How are you feeling today?" Her hands glowed green as she injected healing chakra into him.

"Not bad."

"Not good, either, I suppose?"

He shrugged and she let the matter drop. There wasn't a whole lot she could do without running tests first. She could only ease his symptoms.

"We'd better get back to the house." She changed him back to cat form. "Do you think that Sasuke's doing ok with all this? He hasn't really said much."

"He's not happy, Sukoshi, but he'll adjust. He has no choice."

She looked at him doubtfully. "Do you think he'll attack you?"

He shrugged and flicked his tail nonchalantly. "Sooner or later."

Worry showed on her face as she bent to pick him up. They arrived back at the Uchiha property and were met at the door by Genma.

"Tsunade already dropped off Sasuke and left for the Tower with Hoshigaki in tow," he told her. "She said she'll be back tonight to talk to them about their internment. Uchiha. You come with me." Itachi followed Genma back to lock-up while Sakura went to the kitchen to look for breakfast.

After she ate, she ambled into her bedroom to explore a little and see what else she might want to have on hand while she was staying in the Uchiha house and what she might want to get from her place. She opened the closet and saw a full half of it was devoted to her own clothes. The other side was filled with boxes. Curious, she opened a few to see if it was more stuff from home.

It wasn't.

The first one held clothes, children's clothes—the dark blue shirts bore the symbol of the Uchiha clan on their backs or high collars. The next box she opened was full of toys.

Being a girl from a civilian family, she was unfamiliar with some of the toys. Of course there were the standard ones—a well worn, obviously loved dinosaur, a ball, blocks of various shapes and sizes. There were other toys, however, that she had _never_ seen growing up.

'Who gives a toddler shuriken to play with?' she wondered as she picked up a few. It was only then that she realized these dark toys were made of harmless rubber.

'Well,' she thought, fingering the rubber throwing stars, 'I guess boys would like to play ninja with swords and not dress up as princesses for tea parties.' She spun one absently on the floor, wondering if the cats might like a few of these as toys.

She turned over the dinosaur and found that its owner had put his initials under the stuffed lizard's foot.

_S.U._ was written there in a childish scrawl.

'These were Sasuke's toys!' she thought, excitedly. 'Eh, how cute!'

She realized then that she must be staying in Sasuke's old bedroom. She looked around, but there was nothing that seemed distinctively _Sasuke_ about the room. It was painted a medium blue with a lone clan symbol on one wall. Aside from that, it could belong to anyone.

When she was younger, she would have given her right arm just to set foot in this room, never mind actually sleeping in it. She laughed at herself and the way she had thought his room would be so cool. Maybe with wicked-sweet weapons pinned on the wall or expensive, ultra-stylish artwork because the Uchiha family was supposed to be so wealthy and Sasuke was so cool.

After being his teammate, she'd realized that he was more interested in being the best shinobi than anything else. He rarely set aside time for anything but training, unless he was forced to by Team Seven activities. Still, he grumbled about it, even if he _unintentionally_ had some fun. She came to admire his drive but she always wished he learned to enjoy himself more.

She set out Sasuke's toys one by one on the floor. It was so easy to imagine a dark-eyed boy playing with these simple toys—his hair with its riotous cowlicks spiking on his sweet, little head—never knowing of the treachery to come which would taint his innocence.

She picked up the little dinosaur, held him up at eye level and couldn't resist hugging the adorable little plushie. 'Sasuke must have loved this,' she thought affectionately, giving the stuffed animal a peck on the cheek before she put him back in the box.

The tatami mats in here were all new, just like in the rest of the house. She wondered if it was because there had been bloodstains on the old ones.

'Poor Sasuke-kun.' She thought, putting the boxes back into his closet. 'To have gone through so much so young. I hope I can help him, but I don't know how. He hates me so much for what happened. I don't think he'll ever forgive me.

She was sitting, absorbed in thought about the Uchiha tragedy and all its implications, when a deep, wailing caterwauling caught her attention.

"Sakura-chaaan!"

"Sakura-chaaan!"

"Saaakuraa-chaaan!"

"Saaakuraa-chaaaaan!"

She opened the door to the medical bay and saw the lines of cages on the wall. Both Itachi and Sasuke were sleeping, or at least trying to in the last two stalls.

'They must be exhausted after last night,' she thought.

"Sakura-chan! You're home, unya! Please let me out. Please, nya, please, pllleassse!"

"Deidara-san, you don't need to yell so loudly."

The fluffy orange and white cat flung himself on his back in the metal cage with a tinny thump and stretched beseeching paws out as far as the bars would allow toward her.

"Sakura-chan, please. Just let me out for a little while, unya. I need fresh air. I can't breathe. I'm suffer-cating in here. Nya, I can't stand not being able to see the sky." Imploring feet pawed at the air as his nose and whiskers squeezed between the bars to wiggle at her.

"I think you mean suffocating, Dei-kun." She bit her lip to keep from smiling.

"I'm dy-y-y-y-y-ying!" he wailed in his deep, un-catlike voice.

She covered her mouth before she laughed out loud at his antics.

'Oh, he's _too_ cute,' she thought with an inward smile. She crossed her arms and looked sternly at him, trying to remember he was an S-class criminal and capable of killing and—it was no good, her mouth kept wanting to smirk at his behavior. She bit her tongue hard enough to bring tears to her eyes so as not to laugh.

"The Hokage will be back tonight to talk to all of you about your stay. You'll probably be let out then."

"I can't wait that long!" he huffed at her, still lying upside down in his cage. He sighed gustily and flicked a marmalade colored ear at her. "I'll explode if I have to stay inside another hour!" He stretched out and bit at the metal bars with long, sharp teeth and waved his white, six-toed front paws through the bars toward her.

She sighed and pursed her lips, setting her hands on her hips in consideration. Sasuke and Itachi would probably get no rest until she did something about Deidara's fussing.

"I guess I can take you outside—for a _few_ minutes."

"Unya! You're the _best_, Sakura-chan!" In a flash, he was upright and standing on two feet, trying to push on the cage door before she even unlocked it.

She opened the door and Deidara leaped into her arms. His paws reached around her neck as he hugged her with his overly large paws and purred as loud as a motor. She caught him, holding him so he wouldn't fall. He touched noses with her and she blushed at his overfriendliness.

"Don't you want to walk and stretch your legs, Dei-kun?" she asked, trying not to giggle at his antics.

"Onegai, carry me, Sakura-chan. My legs are weak from being locked up in that cold, cramped cage, unya," He sighed dramatically as he snuggled along her neck and into her sweet-smelling hair, nuzzling her neck while his long, ginger tail twitched happily.

"Hey, bitch!" Hidan yowled loudly at her, clawing at his bars. "I wanna come, too!"

Sakura eyed the foul-mouthed cat coldly before swiftly turning on her heel and walking out of the room. Deidara, cuddled up to her neck, peeked out at them from under her hair and stuck out his tongue at the others as the door swung shut.

"Way to go, asshole." Kakuzu muttered. "Now she probably will make us _all_ wait until the Hokage comes back."

"Shut-up, cudlicker! I'll say what I want to that little bitch. It's all _your_ fault that were stuck in here in the first place, you cheap bastard." He started in again on his diatribe about how _he_ had wanted to skin the little, white cat. "If you had listened—"

"Tobi wants to come out, too."

"Me first, bitches!"

"Shut-_up_!" the rest of them yelled in unison. Hidan hissed at them before returning to the back corner of his pen to pray to Jashin-sama to help him escape from this hellhole.

He couldn't believe after all his beautifully painful sacrifices that, in his time of need, Jashin-sama had forsaken him.

0o0o0

0o0o0

0o0o0


	24. Chapter 24 Castration—Frustration

Thank you, Sakura's Unicorn for the help and editing. Yes! I got my bike back on the road today! WooHoo!

Please

R&R

A/N- Enjoy the update. I'm hitting the hay.

K&K

DNON

Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter 24-Castration—Frustration

0o0o0

0o0o0

0o0o0

"I bet it was raining the day you were born."

The honey-blonde woman turned away from the large picture window where she'd been staring out at the rainy afternoon. She thought about the things she had to say to her newly acquired captives.

Tsunade looked at the huge, blue-gray cat settled on top of her cracked desk. Ever since he'd watched her smack it with her palm—the solid wooden surface breaking cleanly in two—he'd been mooning at her and purring loud enough to rattle the pens set along its surface.

"_What?_ Why would you say that?"

"Heaven must have cried because they lost an angel that day."

"_Pfft_," Tsunade rolled her golden eyes at the cat sitting on her desk. "Are you sure you're Hoshigaki Kisame? _Monster_ of the Mist?"

"That's my name, baby. Just say it once and I'll be at your service."

"I've seen your face in the bingo books," Tsunade told him with a smirk.

"Did they catch my good side?" He turned his furry head, preening.

"You have one _ugly_ mug," she said, brutally honest.

"But you liked my smile, right, baby?" Sharp fangs flashed in a semblance of a grin.

"_Charmer_," the blonde chuckled. "You're not just one of those guys who's all _talk_ now, are you?"

"You've _seen_ the size of my sword baby. They don't give those things to guys who can't back up their words."

"Hmm." She sat on the edge of her desk and tapped her chin with one finger. "That _is_ some sword."

The monstrous-sized cat rubbed up under her arm until she unconsciously ran her hand over his back and tail.

"You can hold my sword anytime you want, beautiful." He wiggled his whiskers at her.

Tsunade couldn't hold back a snigger. "Come on, Romeo. Let's go. I've got work to do."

0o0o0

When Tsunade showed up with her over-sized detainee, she wasted no time with pleasantries.

"Let's get this over with."

Sakura, Kakashi and Kisame followed her into the medical bay where Genma was releasing the rest of the cats, one by one. They lined up awaiting their sentences like good little bad guys.

"For all intents and purposes, I hereby declare your participation in the Akatsuki over. From here on out, all members of the group formerly known as the Akatsuki who are residing here will no longer practice as members for as long as you remain in my custody."

Tsunade assertively paced the floor in front of the row of furry criminals.

"The Akatsuki will not be spoken of here. If you persist in thinking you belong to this group, _Akatsuki_, you will find yourself at odds with me."

She stopped and looked at each and every one of them with a forbidding glare. "You do _not_ want to be at odds with me.

This is not a trial, gentlemen. I will not go over your numerous crimes. I will talk to you all, individually about your crimes as time permits. You are _my_ prisoners and _I _will choose your punishments as I see fit. If you are dissatisfied with my rules, just tell me—I will be happy to formally turn you over to the government of your home country and your fate can be decided by _them_.

Of course if you leave the vicinity of Konoha, the spell will be broken and you will be a cat forever." She smiled sharply at them. "I personally think the Kages of your countries would enjoy their new pets immensely."

The cats glanced around at each other uneasily but wisely remained silent.

"Also, I can tell you men now that I have _not_ ruled out execution from _my_ list of punishments. But, I'm not a harsh master. I am willing to let you stay here in Konoha and rehabilitate yourselves. I don't want you to think that I'm not giving you a choice, gentlemen. I am." Her golden eyes glinted viciously. "It just may be a choice that you're not particularly _fond_ of."

She slapped her hand on the metal table and a few of the cats jumped to their feet.

"Any questions?" she asked. "No? Feel free to ask if any come to mind during your internment. Now..."

She took out a kunai from her pocket.

"Uchiha Sasuke. Come here," Tsunade ordered. She turned him back into his human form.

"Observe." Tsunade tossed a blade to Sasuke, her stern look warning him _not_ to use it on his brother—Kakashi moved to stand protectively over Itachi. "Uchiha, use the blade to cut Sakura's finger."

Sasuke resisted the strong urge to use the blade on his brother—he knew they would be watching him closely. They'd never let him get close enough. Instead, he stepped toward Sakura who unquestioningly raised her hand, palm up, to him.

'Dumb girl. She's way too trusting,' he thought, bringing the knife down to scratch her with it. He'd barely nicked her before he instantly turned back into a cat, scrambling to avoid the falling kunai before it skewered him.

Sakura snatched the blade out of the air before it hit a retreating Sasuke.

"Do you understand, gentleman?" Less than one drop of blood spilled and you're changed back automatically. Do you know what this means? If you hurt either one of us, the chances are high that I will decide you need to remain as a cat—permanently." She put her hands on her hips. "Got it?"

The row of small furry heads nodded solemnly.

"Alright. The Uchiha grounds are your boundaries. You cannot step out of them unless you are ordered to by me. Only Sakura or I may take you out. If you wish to get out, you may ask for a mission. I have a few _special_ rehabilitation missions available to you until your term is over. Once a month, you will have the opportunity to take a break from this form and, if you behave, you will be allowed a practice session in a special training ground in your human form. This privilege is just that—a privilege. Do not think that you are not being watched at all times—or that any infraction will not be severely penalized. Once your three years are up I will allow you to leave Fire country if you wish, with your life-blood oath that you will no longer break shinobi law.

She walked along the line of cats, sizing them up and making sure that each one of them looked her in the eye. "Most of Konoha does not know you're here. If I hear that they've discovered you somehow—as either man _or_ cat—you will be punished by spending the rest of your days in an underground, ANBU jail cell—_if_ I don't just decide to make the curse permanent instead, just for the hell of it. I believe I am being exceedingly generous by not killing you all immediately. I have very little patience—_don't_ push it." She folded her arms across over her ample bosom. "Any questions?"

She didn't even give them a chance to ask before she continued.

"All your meals will be served here. You will keep your new home presentable. You all have a curfew—you will be back in this house by sundown every night or you will lose the privilege of being able to roam the grounds freely. You will behave like gentleman. If you don't, I know a particularly fine veterinarian who's an expert at castrating problematic _male_ animals. Do we understand each other, _gentlemen_?"

Sakura swore she heard every man in the room gulp—even the guards.

'I guess the threat of losing their manhood is scarier than dying or spending a few years locked in a cell,' she thought watching them.

"All right. That's all I have to say for now. Any and all rules are subject to change whenever the hell I feel like it, so behave yourselves. Dismissed."

0o0o0

When the rest of the cats followed Kakashi out into the living room, Sakura blocked Itachi's path by sliding the door shut.

"May I speak with you a moment?"

Itachi nodded and she indicated the metal table—he leapt up gracefully and sat waiting to hear what she had to say.

"The blood tests came back positive for the Crypts virus," she said softly, just in case prying ears were listening.

Itachi watched her silently.

"You knew this, of course."

He blinked at her and flicked an ear.

While she stood tapping her foot impatiently at the stoic Uchiha, she heard Deidara and Tobi talking loudly as they came up the hall toward the med-bay door.

She certainly didn't want her conversation with Itachi overheard, so she picked him up and executed a transformation jutsu to her apartment.

"Ok, tell me how you were able to live with this disease beyond childhood?"

He blinked lazily at her.

"You know, Itachi, if we can figure this out, another child will not have to live with this horrible disease. We may just be able to use your case to find a cure for others."

"Impossible," he murmured.

"Tell me why I'm wrong," she placed her hands on her hips, getting ready to argue.

Nothing—he was silent as the tomb.

"The field of medical jutsu was not as advanced when you were a child as it is now, but there were a few up and coming medical persona. Did your mother ever take you to see Tsunade-sama?"

"Tsk," he finally broke his silence. "You must be kidding. An _Uchiha_ go see a doctor that wasn't an Uchiha? That was unheard of back then for any strong clan."

"Not unheard of for a mother desperate to save her son from a horribly painful death."

"She did try…once."

"And?" She leaned forward in interest.

Itachi laid down on the couch pillow and closed his eyes. "My father found out and forbade her."

"But she did something, didn't she—besides the protocol medications and health regimens?" Sakura was sure of it.

"A very strict diet and exercise has helped."

Sakura made a sour face. "What _else_ did she _do_?"

"I'm not sure what you mean." He shrugged and looked at her, "You've seen my medications."

Sakura sat on her coffee table so she could look him in the eye. "Itachi, I know you're not telling me everything. I know it's personal and private, but you have to tell me…please. I won't tell anyone. "

"Hm."

"If I was your mother, I'd probably do anything. Hell, I'd even sell my soul to save my son.'

"Ridiculous."

"No, Uchiha Mikoto belonged to a powerful clan. A clan as strong as the Uchiha just _might_ have dangerous, but effective life-altering jutsu at their disposal in their vaults. There were many closely guarded secrets in your clan, right? How hard would it be to find one where she could trade part of her own life energy for the life of her beloved son?"

Itachi turned away from her.

"There is another Uchiha in Konoha right this minute who, I think, knows a great deal about life-extending jutsu. Perhaps the Uchiha clan discovered some secret to prolonging existence."

'Not that I want to ask _him_,' she thought with a slight shiver.

Itachi said nothing.

"How much time did your mother buy you?"

Itachi sighed. "Perhaps a decade, if I was lucky."

"At what cost?"

"Her own life. At the end of it all, she was already dying even before I did…what I did."

"What about Sasuke? She surely didn't intend to leave him alone?"

"She knew I would always look out for him. We were practically inseparable. Sasuke was my shadow whenever I wasn't on missions."

"The poor woman loved her child so much, she couldn't think of anything else."

"Probably."

"She gave up her position as a kunoichi to have a family. She was ready to protect that family with her life. She devoted herself to you."

"Yes," Itachi said honestly. "I was ready to accept my fate, but she refused to let me go."

"Then we will make her wish come true. Besides, I owe you. If you had not taken care of me, I probably would have died back in Grass Country."

"What are you saying?"

"I will cure you."

"What can _you_ do?"

"I will do…" She shrugged. "Well, everything in my power. It won't be easy. It will most likely be painful." She looked at him seriously. "Do you think you're up to the challenge?"

Itachi's tail straightened in surprise. This girl was full of surprises.

He nodded once. "With one exception—I don't want Sasuke to know."

"That's not fair to him, Itachi-san. He's your family. You know, he may hate you, but he can't help but love you, too. He's always looking for the brother he lost."

"That brother is dead."

"I don't think so. Why else would you do all you've done?"

"Hate."

"Liar."

"Watch what you say. I'll kill you, too, kunoichi."

'Yeah?' she thought to herself. 'Then why haven't you already done so?'

"I don't think so, Itachi-san, but if that happens, you'll still be servicing your village. Think of all the Akatsuki you'll be taking down, along with yourself and your little brother, whom I think you do _not_ hate at all."

"You'll be sorry you helped me," he growled.

She shook her head at him. "You know what I like the most, Itachi-san?"

"Hm?"

"To solve problems, puzzles, mysteries. You are the biggest one yet and I am going to decipher you _and_ find a cure for an atrocious childhood disease. There is nothing that would make me happier."

"Not even my otouto warming up to you?" he suggested, waving his tail saucily.

Sakura sighed. "_That_ will never happen, Itachi-san. You've seen for yourself. Sasuke clearly hates me now and it's not only because I've trapped him in a torturous spell for three years. You don't know all that we've been through. There's no going back. He'll never forgive me."

"Is that what you think?" Clearly, she had not seen what he had since his little brother ran into this woman—but Itachi knew his otouto's attitude much better than most.

"Yes." She stood up from the couch to indicate that the subject was closed as she clasped the tiny bell on her collar to change him into his human form. "Now, take off your shirt. I need to examine you." She retrieved her medical bag.

He smirked at her boldness. Here was one girl that wouldn't blush and faint at the legendary Uchiha magnetism, he thought. When she reentered the room and glanced at him shirtless and waiting, he saw that she was indeed blushing.

He made no mention of it as she didn't gush and fawn over him as many women had in his time. Once she began, she really handled him quite professionally. He approved.

"Be honest with me, Itachi-san," she said, sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch with a notepad, scribbling down notes. "On a pain scale of zero to ten with zero being _nothing_ and ten being _completely unbearable_, what are you at with the medication?"

"Three."

"Ok. And what about at its worst?" she twirled her pen in idle thought. "Say, after you've fought a tough battle?"

"Seven."

"Seven?" she sounded like she didn't believe him.

He sighed. "Nine."

She wrote something down while speaking. "Do you keep pushing, or take a break when it gets this high?

"Most times, I am forced to stop and wait for the medication to begin working again."

"I am going to start working on you. My goal is to get your body to reproduce fresh, undamaged cells and try to destroy the infected ones to shed this disease."

"Is that possible?"

"I'm…not sure, but there is a another advantage we have that your mother gave us." She smiled with confidence.

"What's that?"

"Sasuke."

"I already told you, I don't want him privy to this."

"I _still_ think you should tell him, but I will not disclose anything without your permission _for now_." He looked doubtful. "Sasuke won't know, I promise. Simple physicals and blood tests for him. It will be extremely helpful for you and future generations to know if he is a carrier of the genes for this illness. He has the same DNA as you and I will use both to figure out what went wrong in your system and heal you."

"You think you can do that?"

"Of course. This could be important. This knowledge might even end the threat of this illness, Itachi."

He looked skeptical but she also saw something else, something small, something besides the usual stoic resignation…hope.

He found it fascinating how she lost herself in her work. At first, it seemed almost like he could have been under a microscope for all she cared. She shone a small light in his eyes, nose to nose with him. Nobody had ever dared look deeply in his eyes, since he'd first revealed his Sharingan. Her boldness was disconcerting. Her hands felt cool on his skin, but sure and steady when she took his wrist to feel his pulse and ran them along his neck to feel his glands. She was completely professional, but that didn't keep him from feeling surprisingly electrified as her hands slid smoothly over his heated skin. Gooseflesh rose on his arms when she stood and leaned over him and her hair softly brushed his bare shoulder. The cold stethoscope touched his back and he shivered involuntarily.

"Sumimasen, Itachi-san." she brought the cold metal to her mouth and breathed on it to warm it, before placing it again on his back. "Please breathe deeply," she said softly next to his ear. When he took a breath, Itachi could smell the sweet scent of her shampoo and he turned his head ever so slightly toward her as he drew another breath to immerse himself in the scent.

"Very good." The instrument moved further across his back and she when leaned closer to reach across, she put one hand on his shoulder to keep steady. "Again."

When she moved the stethoscope again and squeezed his shoulder to let him know to take another breath, Itachi smirked at amount of trust she placed in him. What a stubborn girl. He could see why Baa-chan had been confident enough to send her on her mission.

Her fingers touching his skin suddenly reminded him of the last morning in the hidden base—her warm, mostly-unclothed body under him, while his fingers wandered over her silken curves. His inappropriate thoughts caused him to take a much larger inhale than he'd meant to, and he started coughing. With his chest muscles already sore from not regularly taking his meds, they started to spasm and he continued hacking until she laid both hands on his chest and eased the painful spasm. By the time he stopped, his face was red and he was shaking from the exertion.

"Ok, that was a little _too_ much. I want you to relax now, while I check out your internal system."

Sakura listened to his lungs and heart. She made him lay back while she delved into his chakra system and picked it apart methodically to get to know exactly how Itachi's body ticked. He was glad that his face was red from coughing—at least that was an excusable reason for the heat on his cheeks. The doctors he had seen, although they were few, had always been male. Now, with her hands running all over him, he knew why.

"Ok. Now, I want you to turn over and lay on your stomach. I'm going to start healing you, but I want to warn you—it's going to hurt at first. Your body has become nearly frozen with this disease and I need to break it up to give new, undamaged cells a chance to grow."

He nodded.

"Tell me when it's too much."

"Huh," he grunted mockingly. "I really don't think you can hurt me that badly."

"Don't say that yet. I have a feeling you're going to start to hate me soon."

Forty minutes later, his entire body wracked with murderous spasms, he surrendered and called a halt to her torture.

He had thrown up twice and was sweating rivers. His hand that brushed sweat from his forehead was trembling.

"You know, you could teach Hidan something about how to torture people, Sukoshi."

Sakura was unapologetic. She herself was drenched in sweat as she sat wearily over him. The responsibility to break the chains of this disease was a massive undertaking and she wasn't sure that she could keep her promise. But, as long as Itachi was able to withstand the pain, she was going to give everything she had to force this illness from his body. With a shaking hand, she sent some soothing chakra into Itachi and he shuddered in relief as the worst of the pain finally subsided. All too soon she was forced to stop as her chakra became too low to go on.

"Tomorrow, I'll run another series of blood tests to check our progress."

Next, she collapsed on the nearest comfy chair and they both fell into an immediate, exhausted sleep.

When she woke up, Itachi was back in his cat form and sitting quietly on the chair arm, watching her.

"How are you feeling, Itachi-san?"

His ear flicked at her. "I could ask you the same."

"Funny, Itachi-san." She threw a small pillow at him and missed when he quickly darted away—his reflexes seemed good, she thought. "_You_ are _my_ patient. How are you feeling?"

He jumped on the couch and shrugged. "Better then I've felt in the last year," he told her honestly.

"That is promising," she nodded, "but we have a long, uphill battle. Are you up to it?"

"Are you giving me a choice, Sukoshi?"

"No."

He stood up and stretched out languidly. "Then I am up to it."

"Good. Would you like to go clean up? I can change you back and, after you're done, I will clean up before we go back to the compound." She got up and stretched her own muscles, cramped from sleeping in the chair. "I need to rest a little longer and you definitely smell like you need a shower." She laughed at the way his ears twitched in irritation at her jibe.

She smiled, changed him back into human form and went to her room to lie down and sleep a while longer.

He looked back at the girl-child-woman who held his future in her hands. He decided that his little brother was really very lucky this woman had been on his team and that she cared so much for him. If not, their futures might have all been tragic.

"Thank you, Sukoshi," he said quietly, placing a blanket over the sleeping kunoichi. She didn't wake, but smiled softly in her sleep.

An hour later, Sakura woke to the wonderful smell of something delicious. She followed her grumbling tummy and nose to her little kitchen where Itachi was making miso ramen with egg.

"Where did you find food?" she asked, looking around suspiciously. "There's no food in my apartment."

"I know. You need to go shopping. I stole these from your neighbors."

He handed the surprised girl a bowl and she laughed at his honesty before she sat and devoured everything in it. He ate silently across from her and when she finally stopped inhaling food, she looked up at him and smiled guiltily. He smirked at her openness and the fact that her hair was sticking up at odd angles from sleep. His clan had been so uptight. He rather liked that this girl wasn't perfect. She was real.

"Sorry for being so rude," Sakura blushed charmingly. "That healing took a lot out of me. I was starving."

"Hm," his eyebrow rose at her.

"It's very good. Thank you."

"Aa."

"I'll clean up then we need to get back." Sakura rose and picked up their empty dishes and brought them to the sink.

"That was pretty draining, but I think it was a good start, Itachi-san. We'll need to have another session every day this week if you can handle it and my chakra holds out. I'll be running a lot of tests. I'm going to have to get samples from Sasuke, too," she told him eagerly. "In fact, I'll may use a few more of the Akatsuki to draw attention away from your treatment. Maybe a bloodline trait experiment on the effect being cats has on your bodies just to throw off any suspicion as to what we're doing. Deidara has an interesting bloodline trait, too—and then there's Kisame with his unnatural amount of chakra. I'd like to study him too."

"Don't be foolish enough to let your guard down around anyone else. Even Sasuke's still dangerous."

She wiped her hands on the dishtowel and sighed. "I know."

0o0o0

The general chaos Sakura encountered when they returned to the Uchiha compound's med-bay alarmed her for a minute—until she realized most of it was being caused by just two people.

Sai and Tobi.

Tobi was…being Tobi. Just like in the Akatsuki base, he was following his senpai and asking irritating questions—being a general nuisance. Of course, Sakura no longer found this cute. In fact, it was downright creepy how he could distract people from his true character with his oddball behavior.

Sai was the other troublemaker.

"Sai, what's the problem?"

He shrugged. "Honestly, I do not know. I fed them like I was supposed to and they have been whining at me ever since. Patches here—"

"Motherfucker! His name's Kakuzu!"

"—and Princess Pansy have been complaining about the quality of the fare."

"Cocksucker, that pale bastard keeps making up names for us and he fucking fed us ground mouse-turds for dinner!"

"I have to disagree," Sai said, smiling emotionlessly. "That was high quality cat food." The cats hissed and grumbled in aggravation.

"Sai, you can't give them cat food. You have to give them _real_ food. Like you would eat—just smaller portions."

"You are the only female in this household. Perhaps _you_ should put on the apron and serve them dinner." That snarky grin flashed at her.

"Sai!" Sakura's hand clenched into a fist and a few of the cats ducked for cover from the red-faced kunoichi. "You did _not_ just imply that I should be cooking because I am a woman!"

A hand came out and smacked Sai upside the back of his head.

"Sai, apologize to your taichou, then get in the kitchen and make some tamagoyaki. Since you're such a smooth talker, you can be on kitchen duty all this week."

"Sensei," Sakura smiled.

"Taichou," Kakashi nodded. "You still look a little worn out. We've got things covered here. Why don't you get a little more rest? It's only going to get more hectic with this crew come morning."

"You baby the hag too much." Sai rubbed the back of his head.

"Sakura already did the hard work, Sai. We have the gravy job here only because she risked her life. It won't hurt to let her rest easy for a bit while we watch over the homestead, ne?" Kakashi gave Sai his own version of the fake smile—one that usually meant he was about to hand out an ass whooping to anyone who defied him.

"Hai, wakatta, Kakashi-san, Taichou," Sai agreed immediately and bowed slightly to Sakura before heading for the kitchen.

"And Sai?" Sakura stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Please try to learn their _real_ names."

Sai shrugged and turned away. Sakura let him go.

"Thank you, Sensei."

"No need," Kakashi told her. "You leave it to us tonight. I'm sure there'll be plenty to do tomorrow."

"Good night, Kakashi."

"Oyasumi, Sakura-chan."

Sakura went to her room and shut the door on the commotion with a happy sigh. She realized she was going to have to pace herself better concerning Itachi's treatments. If she tried to do as much every day as she had today, then she was going to have problems in the future. She looked in the mirror over the dresser to see that there were dark circles under her eyes.

She unzipped her vest and took it off. She started to pull her t-shirt over her head when she heard a small noise.

"Itachi-san!" Seeing the black cat materialize in front of her, Sakura jumped back and pulled her shirt back down over her chest bindings. "Why did you come in here?"

"I'm supposed to be guarding you. Did you forget? We both are. Besides, you let _him_ in."

"Him?" Sakura looked around and, sure enough, there was Sasuke, sitting curled up on the pillow next to her futon.

"It's _my_ room," Sasuke spat, his fur rising on his neck.

'Shit! I didn't even notice!'

In the future, she would have to be more careful. Right now, she wanted to avoid a violent confrontation between the brothers—but she also wanted to climb into a comfortable bed.

"Don't kill each other. I'll be right back." Sakura opened the door and left.

"Spying on your teammate, otouto?"

"Tch," Sasuke scoffed. "I wasn't hiding. This is _my_ room."

"If you say so." Itachi turned his back on Sasuke and sat down.

"It _is_," Sasuke insisted. "Besides _you_ were the one staring."

"I don't need to stare, otouto—I've already seen her naked," Itachi reminded him, watching Sasuke's stiff reaction in the mirror. "Are you jealous?"

Sasuke hissed and crouched, ready to attack when Sakura came back, hauling a very pretty, very _girly_ privacy screen she'd seen in the other bedroom and setting it up in one corner.

"What are you doing?"

"Gomen, Sasuke-kun, I know this is your room. Thank you for sharing," she said, trying to smooth his ruffled feathers. She knew this was hard for him. It made her feel guilty that he was being punished the same as Itachi when it was Sasuke she'd set out to help in the first place. "I know you were both told to assist me, but this way, I can have some privacy while dressing."

Itachi swished his tail as Sakura's clothing came flying over the screen. Sasuke plopped back on the pillow, ignoring both of them until Sakura pulled out the futon and made it up for the night. Jostled from his pillow, he jumped up to the window sill and glared out the glass silently.

'How awkward,' Sakura thought dolefully, turning out the light and climbing between the covers. 'Maybe I should just act like it's a normal mission only instead of Naruto and Sasuke, Itachi and Sasuke are my teammates. They sort of are, right?'

"Uh, oyasumi, Sasuke-kun, Itachi-san."

"Oyasumi, Sukoshi," Itachi purred from the dresser.

Sasuke growled.

'Yeah,' Sakura thought as she yawned and closed her eyes—sleepiness overcoming her. 'Awkward.'

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"Tell me what way she went, _fat-ass_!" The white-haired boy leaned his sword harder against the older teenager from the village of Nannari-toshi and a trickle of blood ran down the boy's throat.

"I don't know!" the greasy-haired kid said in a high pitched whine.

"What was she doing in this shitty, little town?"

"All I know is she got a bunch of bentos from Toshi-san's food stall. We was gonna stop her before she left town but there was this big earthquake that swallowed us up and she got away."

"Pink hair, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Bright pink—and green eyes. She escaped into the woods, west of town. That's all I know." The frightened boy's eyes widened at the huge sword and Suigetsu's sharp toothed grin. "I swear!"

"Thanks, fatty." Suigetsu slapped his pudgy cheeks, let the guy go and walked back to his comrades.

"Come on, Juugo, Bitchy, let's go."

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	25. Chapter 25 The Blame Game

DNON

First snowfall today…blech, time to hibernate.

A/N-I know you all think I have four stories keeping me busy but I actually have nine or ten. Half of them are not up yet, even though I have a lot written and I go over ideas for them with SU—I must run her pretty ragged but I can't help it, lol. There's no way I could just do one at a time anymore—there is just too much going on in my head and it helps me to switch back and forth whenever I'm stuck. Once I finish one of these stories running, I'll add one of my new ones. I am looking forward to sharing them all with you.

Thanks for so many cool reviews.

Thanks, Sakura's Unicorn, for all the help with editing, and researching for stories. She's got a cool, new chaptered fic just out—Look Underneath—go check it out—it's awesome—gotta love those Uchiha!

Hey! I got new fan art!

_Sakura and the Kittens_ by L.M.D.A.A. from chapter 22 of co9t when Sakura played with the nin-kittens. There's a link in my profile that will take you to my D.A account. She's one of two artists in my favorites-the other is my first fanart—_Cat-o-Nine Tails_ by Nekojen9. Thank you so much for the cute picture L.M.D.A.A.! I _love_ it! Kawaii desu! S.U. wants to know if you are gonna color it—she thinks it's adorable, too.

Oh, and in honor of the splendid L.M.D.A.A.'s fan art I will put up a _bonus_ chapter of co9t this month!

_You like?_

K&K

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"You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats." – Colonial proverb

"In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats." – English proverb

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Cat o Nine Tails

Chapter 25—The Blame Game

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"I'll be in touch."

The blue-haired woman's clone exploded in a cacophony of crackling paper, causing the small group to scatter to avoid taking thousands of bothersome paper cuts.

Karin pouted, stomped her foot and thought, 'That bitch forced me to show my hand—and stupid Suigetsu didn't even try to protect me a lick. Hell, he even went as far to say that the Akatsuki should torture _me_ for information! Just wait until Sasuke-kun hears about this!'

When the woman threatened to mar Karin's face if she didn't give up her secret, she relented—she knew Sasuke wouldn't want her beautiful face all cut up just to protect him. She giggled, thinking that when they caught up to him, he would probably Katon that bitch's paper ass until there was nothing left but a carbon stain on the ground for threatening _his Karin_.

Suigetsu was staring at her as if she'd grown a second head.

"You mean _all this time_, you've had a faster way to track Sasuke and you didn't wanna _tell_ us?" Suigetsu couldn't believe it—and here they had been torturing idiots who couldn't last ten seconds in a fight when they could have been torturing _Karin_ for the information.

She shrugged. "We were doing ok. Somehow, his chakra's been blocked all this time, but I'm sure we're headed in the right direction—uh, mostly."

Suigetsu cracked his knuckles and Juugo prepared to come between her and the white-haired ninja with murder in his eyes.

"Karin-san, perhaps it would be best if we used the quickest way possible to find Sasuke-san. I'm sure he's probably waiting for us to find him by now."

Karin looked from the earnest oaf, back toward the withering glare of the bloodthirsty water nin who was nonchalantly pulling his huge sword from his back. He didn't look like he was getting ready to just sharpen it—unless he planned on using her body as a whetstone.

She flinched and clenched her fists at her sides. "If I tell you, you can't say anything to Sasuke-kun. You have to _promise_."

"Why would we say anything to him?" Suigetsu grinned sharply at her. "_What did you do, Karin?"_

She toed the dirt at her feet, avoiding his eyes. "It's nothing—just a way to keep Sasuke-kun close—just in case we were ever separated and I couldn't find him."

'Although he would probably skin me for doing it,' she added to herself.

"Then activate the damn thing!"

"I can't! If I do, Sasuke might find out."

"How? How will he know?"

"He'll feel—it might…hurt him a bit."

"Why would it _hurt_ him?"

"It's a jutsu. One that Orochimaru had me use to capture runaways. It paralyzes the target temporarily when it's activated. It gave us a chance to catch up to escapees." Karin said with authority.

Suigetsu sneered. 'That snake bastard would do something like that,' he reflected contemptuously. 'Who wouldn't want to escape from that hell?' Then he thought of something else.

"So how did it get on Sasuke? There's no way he'd let someone put that on him. He's _always_ on guard."

Karin scratched her head while pretending to check the sky for signs of rain. "He, ah, was just lying there one day, and I thought—"

"Sleeping?"

"No!" She twisted her hands together uneasily. "It might have been after he fought Itachi."

"_Unconscious_?"

She nodded, blushing, and Juugo slapped a hand over his eyes

"_Of course_," Suigetsu laughed ironically at her discomfort. "You are such a stalker-bitch. Trigger the seal."

"But sometimes there were…drawbacks."

Juugo's eyebrows rose in concern. "Like what?"

"The escapees might sometimes had nerve damage…some of it permanently."

"_Paralyzed?"_ Suigetsu couldn't keep the surprise from his face. "You were willing to cripple your Sasuke-kun so he wouldn't escape from you?"

"I said _sometimes_! And I only put it on as a last resort. I never really expected that we'd be separated because Sasuke chose _me_ to help him. I'd never hurt my Sasuke-kun and he knows that. Plus, if he's injured I can heal him when I find him…_probably_," she said under her breath.

Suigetsu had a funny feeling. "Hey, you didn't put one of those on _me_—did you?"

"Why would I want to find _you_, asshole?"

'Thank god for small favors,' he thought, relieved.

"Tch. Better Sasuke than _me_," Suigetsu mumbled and when Karin shot him a glare, he backed off. "Whoa, I mean Sasuke can withstand _anything_, Karin. You know that. And if it's you, I'm sure he'll forgive…" His mouth snapped shut. 'Shit,' he thought—even _he_ couldn't utter such a dumb lie. He waved his hands, giving up. "Ah, screw it—just activate the damn thing already."

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"Hatake-san, the traitor's acting weird," Sai informed him and pointed to where the fluffy, black cat lay twitching on the floor in the corner. At first, he seemed to be dreaming—moving in his sleep—but when Kakashi saw that his eyes were open, he became concerned.

Sasuke looked up when his former team captain stood over him.

"Kakashi," he groaned softly.

"Should I put the traitor out of his misery?" Sai asked, a small smile tilting his lips as he reached for his tanto.

Ignoring Sai, Kakashi touched the young cat's head.

"Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?"

"Hurts," he growled, "Probably something _she_ did."

"_She_, of course, meaning Sakura?" Kakashi inquired with a frown as he picked up the long-haired, black. Bringing him into the medical bay, he shut the door, and summoned Pakkun.

"Find Sakura and tell her to get here quick. If she's not alone, give nothing away."

"Hai." The dog vanished in a puff of smoke.

He returned to the cat, panting on the metal table.

"Hang on, Sasuke. I'm sure Sakura can help."

"Tch," he hissed between pained groans. His legs were frozen and his back felt as if it had snapped in two. 'This _has_ to be something _she_ did,' Sasuke reflected crossly. 'I was in perfect health before she trapped me in this form.'

Pakkun found Sakura at the hospital and told her to come quickly. He didn't need to say—she knew where he wanted her to go. She stepped into the dispensary so no one would see her, and used a transportation jutsu to arrive in her room at the Uchiha house.

She opened her door and noticed all was quiet—then she heard voices coming from the med-bay. She opened the door to find Kakashi standing over Sasuke.

"What's wrong?" Sakura's chakra glowed and she immediately started to assess her patient while Kakashi explained how he had simply collapsed.

"Your stupid curse, no doubt," Sasuke sneered between sharp teeth.

A swift look of guilt passed over Sakura's face before she erased it. "Sasuke-kun, I'm going to change you back so I can figure this out. I'm a med-nin, not a veterinarian." She clasped her collar and Kakashi stood on guard in case Sasuke got out of control, but apparently, whatever was wrong as a cat was _still_ wrong as a man. He hissed as another wave of pain hit him full force in his spine, completely immobilizing him.

"Kakashi, help me turn him over," Sakura instructed. As soon as they did, Sakura's chakra scalpel flashed and she slit his shirt up the entire back, pulling it out of her way. Her breath caught.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sasuke cursed.

"Kakashi?"

A look of confusion crossed his face, too. "I don't know, Sakura. It isn't the same as the first one and the seal I placed over his original curse mark is gone. It's a new one."

"A new _what?"_

"This feels different." Sakura mumbled to herself, as she used her chakra to sweep through the palm-sized mark in the middle of Sasuke's back. The seal tattooed between Sasuke shoulder blades almost appeared to be the shape of a heart, but in reality it was a set of rings, linked at the bottom. The top left corner carried the kanji for _cunning_, the top right corner kanji was _capture_ and where the two linked at the bottom the symbol for _chaos_. When she delved into his spine below the image she could feel the strong resistance that forced her chakra out so she could not heal him without risk to his spinal cord.

She'd felt the snake Sannin's mark, only momentarily as it receded, years ago during the Chunin exams and, while it did have a similar oily feeling, this was clearly a different kind of seal—one that she'd never come across before.

"Sasuke-kun, did Orochimaru put another curse mark on you?"

"No."

"Not even when you were sleeping? Maybe Kabuto—"

"I said, _no_. Nobody came near me in that place." His teeth clenched and he glared at her. "_You_ did this with your damn spell."

Shocked, Sakura shook her head, but didn't argue with him. She looked to Kakashi. "It's been activated. I think it's meant to immobilize the bearer—that's why he's in pain. Sensei, can you somehow seal it until I can find a way to remove it?"

"Hai." The copy-nin pulled his hitai-ate up over his eye and examined the odd image on Sasuke's skin. Sakura stepped back and Kakashi used a simple jutsu to create special markings on the floor. After placing kunai along the markings at certain intervals, he used one to slice his finger. With a bead of blood he drew kanji around the seal on Sasuke's back.

"Sasuke, try to channel your chakra to the middle of your back." His fingers flashed swiftly through a multitude of hand seals before he finally laid his palm against Sasuke's skin.

"Fuuja Houin no Jutsu!"

A light flashed as the kanji burned into Sasuke's skin. The pain in Sasuke's spine increased tenfold for an instant and then lessened dramatically and he let out a sigh of relief. When Sakura placed her small hands over his skin and added her healing, the pain eased to nothing more than an unpleasant tingle and he could once again move normally.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun, but this isn't from _my_ _curse_." She told him frostily. She knew he was in pain, but honestly—he couldn't keep blaming her for every little thing, could he? "You need to try to think of who might've gotten close enough to you to do something like this without your knowledge—someone you let your guard down around. I'll do some research and see if I can remove the curse, but until then, Kakashi's seal should prevent any more damage to your nervous system. Just let me know if you feel any pain—I wouldn't want the nerves in your spinal column to become deadened or the injury could paralyze you permanently. Stay here and relax a minute while I find you another shirt." She looked to the other man. "Kakashi?"

He nodded. "I'll watch him, Taichou."

She left the room and Kakashi crossed his arms and looked sternly at the boy.

"Who is she?"

"Huh?" Sasuke looked surprised.

"Tsk. Sakura may not see it, but it's _obvious_ to me," Kakashi scolded. "This is like some warped, jilted-lover jutsu. You probably let some kunoichi into your bed and she slapped that on you while you were sleeping to keep tabs on you, _baka_."

Sasuke's eye grew large and incredulous. He shook his head and sat up on the table. "I—I never—"

He realized that he knew who did it.

_Karin._

Kakashi saw the light bulb go on over Sasuke's head and raised his eyebrows at him.

"She _healed_ me—after I fought Itachi—I—I nearly died."

Kakashi scowled at him, disbelieving. He pulled his hitai-ate back down over his Sharingan eye.

"She must have done it while I was passed out—"

"_Shut up._ I don't want to hear your excuses. We'll keep this between us for now. Sakura doesn't need to know about your sordid sex life."

Sasuke glared at him.

"You'll feel a little weak for a while. When I placed my seal, I dispersed your chakra in every direction to confuse whoever activated this one. I'm not your sensei anymore, but I wouldn't advise sleeping with any woman you don't _trust_. And quit blaming Sakura for your troubles. She's only tried to help—you did all this to yourself," Kakashi admonished.

"Now, just like when I stopped Orochimaru's Cursed Seal, if you do not actively resist this curse and keep your emotions under control, my jutsu will not hold and the pain will return. It's up to you to control it until Sakura finds a way to remove this cuckold's jutsu."

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The sandy-colored cat laid out on a rock under the hot sun. It was almost as warm today as his first home—where the sultry sun and warm winds baked the sandstone hot enough to fry an egg on—if you didn't mind a little grit in your teeth. When the sun's rays hit just right, his short, tawny fur looked red. His ear twitched as he heard the _scuff_ of a branch bending nearby and his bright, amber eyes opened slowly.

Knowing who had landed in the tree, Sasori stretched his long legs out and extended his claws to scratch at thin air. He reveled in the feeling of his muscles lengthening and contracting as he rolled over to warm his other side.

"Do you have any bright ideas to get us out of this mess, _oh fearless leader_?" Sasori said mockingly.

The beautiful, marble-whorled cat hiding behind the leaves hissed. "Apparently, age has not made you wise, Sasori-san, or else you wouldn't tempt me to _kill_ you."

Sasori shrugged and flicked his tail sideways. "I've died once, nya. What's one more time?"

"If you'd killed the girl when you fought her the first time instead of trying to preserve her body for one of your inane creations, _none_ of this would have happened."

"Hindsight, _fearless leader_. Blah, blah, blah," Sasori yawned, showing off his sharp, white fangs. "You're _wasting_ my precious time. Do you have a plan or not?"

"First, I need to know who is still loyal to the organization."

"Hmm," Sasori agreed, blinking his almond shaped eyes leisurely. "I, of course, owe a debt to the kunoichi. Beating me once because she was lucky is acceptable, but twice? No, she must die now. She will make a lovely trophy," he purred.

"_Baka_!" Madara hissed. "You can't kill her. She's _mine_ to torture. Besides, we _must_ take her with us alive when we leave here. That much that was said is true. If we get more than ten miles from her, the curse is permanent—but there are ways of getting around the rest of the old witch's curse."

Finally interested, the golden cat sat up quickly. "Like what?"

"You'll see." Madara looked over his shoulder and around the garden to make sure they weren't overheard. "We must wait for Pein to find us."

Sasori tilted his head, ears alert. "What makes you think he will?"

"Oh, _he will_," Madara assured him, sitting on his haunches. "He wasn't my second for nothing. Plus, he'll be looking for the kyuubi."

"That could take years!" Sasori grumbled impatiently. "There isn't much time left for the statue—"

"Soon, Sasori," Madara assured him with a dark chuckle, his tail twisting to and fro madly. "For now, we must watch and see who remains loyal."

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Things you probably already know:

Fuuja Houin no Jutsu-Evil Sealing Method-for sealing off a curse from activating-it's only good as long as the bearer forsakes the curse and stays in control of his emotions.


	26. Chapter 26 Cat Scratch Fever

A/N-Big Brother is trying to get a little too controlling of our internet—infringing on our First Amendment rights.

Have you heard of the SOPA bill?

If not, you better find out, because this bill could shut down fanfiction, youtube, DA, manga sites, facebook, google, streaming video-anime sites, as well as many, many others, to users in the USA.

I personally think that these sights actually _make_ artists, writers, video/movie makers _more_ well known and thus, _more_ _money_ because they create a much, much larger fan base then they would otherwise get.

Alright, guys, put on your best thinking caps and write a well thought out letter to your congressmen, asking them firmly but politely to _butt out_ of stuff they have _no right_ to control. You do not need to be old enough to vote to be heard—you are _all_ future voters, I hope.

I'm sure you heard of how some countries rule their people's internet with an iron fist. Do we want this?

Sign a petition, write a letter, vote—get _involved_ people—this is _your_ future internet being taken away—do something about it.

Many voices speaking together get heard.

K&K

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's the extra update I promised, _and_ it's early! I'm giving thanks for my readers, family and friends and their health and mine and my super beta friend and her family too. Thanks, SU!

!Hey, I'm gonna hit 100,000 words this chapter!

DNON

Cat-o-Nine Tails

_By Kaze and Kiba_

Chapter 26-Cat Scratch Fever

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As the days wore on, the tension between the two brothers grew. No matter if the Hokage and Neko-chan had asked them to work together or not, the stress grew worse and worse.

Every interaction Sakura had with Sasuke seemed like a misstep—from when they found they shared sleeping quarters to the odd seal she'd discovered on his back. It made him completely unreceptive to any sociable overtures from her. Sasuke rarely talked to Sakura and even seemed embarrassed when she tried to question him about where the new seal might have come from. She needed _something_ to give her a clue as to its source or it was going to take forever to track down the nature of the seal.

No matter how many times she tried to extend a hand in friendship, Sasuke seemed to slap it away.

"Sasuke, I am going into the lab today. Perhaps—"

"I don't care."

So, she tried again.

"Sasuke, I brought home some fresh tuna from the market. It's really delicious. Would you like to try—"

"Not hungry."

He walked away to sit alone in the corner.

And again.

"Sasuke-kun, I found a nice—"

"Don't need it."

It bothered her to see him so dark and dismal, so she spent extra time pouring over medical texts to try to find a way to help him, hoping to melt his cold shoulder a little.

It didn't make Sakura's life any easier that, after the initial round of tests following Itachi's first successful healing, the unyielding disease seemed to grab hold of him even stronger.

'Maybe it would help if Itachi had Sasuke on his side,' she thought. 'If they could make up then Itachi's stress would lessen and the healing sessions might be more productive.'

"Sasuke, I—"

"You're just as annoying now as you ever were, Sakura."

"You don't need to be rude, otouto."

"Who asked you?"

"You can at least be polite."

"Sorry I can't be more like the _super fucking hero_, Itachi. Maybe if I _kill_ everyone I care about, I can be a _hero_, too," Sasuke snarled.

Sakura went back to work on Itachi's disease. There was no way Sasuke would budge even an inch. Each subsequent day she healed Itachi only kept him at the same level as before—he did not improve as she'd hoped.

So, instead of pacing herself, she'd worked harder until the tell-tale signs of chakra exhaustion showed clearly.

At the end of the week, Tsunade found her in the library at two a.m.

"Sakura, what the hell are you doing?"

Carefully marking her place, Sakura closed the huge tome she was reading. "I'm looking for the results of a study from five years ago on _Crypts_ done by researchers in Waterfall." She pointed to the other, older books. "I'm also looking through some of the material collected from Orochimaru's laboratory to see if I can figure out what curse is on Sasuke. I think if I can identify the right enzyme that it's derived from and what the foreign chakra is attaching itself to, I'll be able to remove it soon."

"I meant _what are you doing to yourself?_!" Tsunade scolded her. "You look like hell." She pulled the ponytail in Sakura's hair and dragged her head back, coming eye-to-eye above her. "Are you sick?"

"I'm just tired. I have a lot on my plate."

"Too much, maybe. I know things aren't what you planned. Are you sure—"

"I can handle it, Shishou." Sakura smiled. "I _want_ to handle it."

"How goes it with Itachi's case?"

Sakura pursed her lips and tapped the top of the book she had just closed.

"It started out well, but we've had some setbacks. I'm trying to see if there were any breakthrough treatments that could help. And, I'm also hoping some samples from Sasuke will give me some clues to figuring it out, but I wanted to get those samples _voluntarily_."

"Let me know if you need my help. I'd be more than happy to hold the little brat down while you take whatever you need."

Sakura giggled. "He's not _that_ bad. He's been through a lot and he's dealing with it pretty ok."

"From your lips to God's ear, Sakura. If I had to deal with that attitude every day, I'd just— "

"I know what _you'd_ do, but I don't think he'd learn as well from a beating as Naruto does."

"Well, maybe not, but I'd love to try," she said as she grinned at her assistant.

Turning serious, Tsunade said, "Sakura, I want you to take the rest of the week off from the hospital and ease off on trying to be super doctor. Itachi's made it this far on his own—you've got a little time."

"If he dies, then Sasuke—" Tsunade slapped a hand over her mouth to stop her worrying and then she moved her hand to Sakura's cheek and lastly her forehead. Her student felt warm, but not hot—it was probably just from overwork.

"Give _yourself_ a break," she growled. "_That's an order_."

"Hai."

"Bring me all the results from Itachi's tests and I'll see if I can't think of something else."

"Arigato, Shishou."

Sakura packed up her books and dragged herself back to the Uchiha district, using what was nearly the last of her chakra to transport. She didn't even bother to undress—she simply dumped her books on the dresser, pulled off her hitai-ate and climbed into the futon. She didn't even notice that the brothers were in already her room. She immediately fell asleep.

For a while, all was peaceful—until Itachi walked over and curled up next to Sakura.

Sasuke growled.

"Why are you _always_ so close to her?"

"She's warm," Itachi told him, with a flick of his tail. He laid his head on Sakura's chest and she didn't even stir, but Sasuke did. He jumped from the windowsill and stalked across the room.

"Hentai."

"Pfft. As if you didn't do the same thing when she held you in the woods—you even _purred_."

Sasuke sputtered. "That's a _lie_!"

"Hmm?" Itachi purred, rubbing his cheek against the side of Sakura's breast.

"Bastard," Sasuke hissed.

"You know she really has exquisite breasts, otouto." Itachi yawned and snuggled into her even more. "You should see them."

"Liar!" Sasuke never believed that crap Itachi had confessed to the Hokage. Sakura would never do something like jump into bed with a complete stranger—not even for a mission.

"I undressed her myself…but she was the one who asked me to shower with her. It was very cute. She was nervous because I was her first."

"I'll _kill_ you." Sasuke snarled and leapt at his brother.

0o0o0

Sakura woke through a foggy haze. It was still dark, but something seemed wrong.

The first thing she heard was a low, throaty growl. She saw a dark flash out of the corner of her eye and acted on instinct—she reached up just as Sasuke leapt at Itachi on the other side of her.

"_Sasuke-kun! No!"_

Sasuke snapped—he hadn't even heard her. He'd had enough of his brother's perverted taunts. He'd had enough of everyone ignoring Itachi's crimes and catering to him like he was some fucking _hero_. He was so irate that, at first, he didn't even notice that Sakura had come between them. His claws ripped and dug as he opened his jaws wide and clamped down fiercely. Suddenly, Sasuke became conscious of the feeling of flesh that wasn't Itachi's.

Sakura hissed in pain and Sasuke, finally recognizing it was her, let go and fell to the floor. He felt a hard smack and Itachi hissed at him.

"Foolish otouto! Look what you've done."

"It's ok," Sakura said softly. "It's nothing, Sasuke." Blood trailing down her arm, Sakura left for the bathroom.

After she shut the door, she flicked on the light to inspect the damage. Her wrist was punctured in four places and the claw marks looked worse then they felt. Sasuke had been quick to release her arm when he realized it was her.

"Well, I knew it would come to a head sooner or later," she murmured, "Sasuke's been so angry and Itachi's been teasing him. Forcing them to live and work together was probably not the best idea that Neko-baa ever had."

Sakura knew the old woman meant well and wanted them to resolve their differences, but maybe it was too much to expect. Sasuke had been deeply hurt. Sakura had seen him deal with his pain every day when they were on Team Seven. She couldn't stay mad at him—even if she was sort of fond of his older brother.

She washed her wounds and wrapped them in gauze. Her chakra was low and she felt a slight cold coming on—this was no time to be draining her chakra completely. She glanced in the mirror and saw the dark circles under her eyes that her shishou had admonished her for and sighed. Tsunade was right—if she didn't take a few days off, she was going to be no help to anyone.

She took a deep breath before going back into her room. She half expected to find herself in the middle of an epic catfight, but all was silent. She turned on the light to see if they were alive.

Sasuke was in his familiar spot on the windowsill and Itachi sat on the corner of the futon. Seeing them unharmed, Sakura let out the breath she had been holding and closed the door.

"Daijoubu, Sukoshi?"

"I'm fine, Itachi-san, uh, I—"

"Sakura," Sasuke interrupted her. "Gomen."

Sakura's mouth hung open and for a few seconds—she was speechless. An apology was the last thing she expected out of Sasuke, but even so, it made her very happy to hear it—very happy indeed.

"I'm ok, Sasuke-kun. It was just a scratch."

Itachi nodded to her bandaged hand. "You didn't heal your arm, Sukoshi?"

Sakura shrugged it off. "I'm a little low on chakra right now—it can wait until tomorrow."

Itachi stared at her intensely and she knew that he was thinking about why she was so low on chakra—she'd used most of it working on him these last few weeks. His tail twitched, he closed his eyes, and tilted his head, acknowledging his culpability. He couldn't possibly scold her without letting Sasuke know _why_ he was scolding her.

"It was my fault as well, Sukoshi. I goaded him into it. Sumimasen."

"It can't be easy for you two to adjust to this so quickly. I'll do my best to help." Sakura smiled tiredly. She couldn't believe how polite they suddenly were—she prayed it would last for a little bit.

"Get some sleep, Sakura," Sasuke told her.

"Yes." She yawned. "I think that's for the best." She flipped out the light and crawled back into bed.

"Goodnight."

0o0o0

0o0o0

It was nearing one in the afternoon and Sakura still hadn't risen from bed.

Breakfast and lunch had already passed. When he and Itachi returned to the room, Sasuke noticed that she was very still and her skin appeared flushed. He exchanged a look with his brother and both silently decided that it wasn't normal for her to be this way. Sasuke went to find Kakashi.

Kakashi closed the door and went quickly to where Sakura lay. He shook her shoulder.

"Sakura-chan. Hey, you feeling all right?" He gently slapped her cheeks. "Wake up. You plan on sleeping the day away?"

Sakura groaned softly. Kakashi placed a hand to her forehead. "She's very warm. You two stay here and watch over her. I'm going to get Tsunade."

0o0o0

0o0o0

The shoji door slid open again to reveal Tsunade followed by a friendly face.

"Neko-baa," Sasuke said, surprised. "Why are you here?"

"I said I'd be back to check in on you boys." She patted each of them on the head. "You two look in good health. Have you been behaving yourself?"

Sasuke's ear flicked and Neko-baa's sharp eyes caught the guilty twitch instantly.

"What's _this_?" Tsunade lifted Sakura's bandaged wrist and looked crossly at the two cats. Itachi glanced at Sasuke who sighed, looked at the floor, and confessed.

"I bit her last night. I got mad at aniki, and when I acted on it, Sakura came between us. She didn't heal herself. She said her chakra was low and bandaged the wound instead."

Tsunade already had the dressings off and was examining the injury.

"The scratches appear to be ok, but the puncture marks here are inflamed. Odd. Neko-chan, could you come take a look at these?"

The women leaned over Sakura's futon, checking her lymph nodes and pulling back her eyelids among other things. Sakura remained mostly silent except when Tsunade pressed on her abdomen—then she groaned faintly. Finally, Tsunade ran chakra-laden hands over Sakura's temples until her eyelids fluttered open.

"Shishou?"

"Sakura. I warned you about wearing yourself thin. Give me your symptoms."

Sakura took a deep breath and closed her eyes in contemplation. "Headache—no, not just that—my eyes are _throbbing_. Abdominal and back pain…and my throat's a little sore."

"Anything else?"

"I'm pretty tired." Her eyes were already closing of their own volition. "I'd like to go back to sleep."

"Neko-chan?"

"No doubt about it. I've seen it quite often. I'm sure she has cat scratch fever. If her immunity was low, a feline scratch or bite can give her the illness."

"What do you think is the best course of treatment?"

"First, get the menfolk out of here," Neko-baa said seriously. "I want to ask Sakura a few personal questions."

Tsunade frowned at Kakashi and the two cats. "You heard her, _out_. And keep everyone else away from here."

Kakashi shrugged and shuffled out, followed by the two Uchiha. They sat right outside the door, guarding it and trying to listen to the two older women talk.

"Sakura-chan, wake up. I need to talk to you about your condition."

"Hai, Baa-chan," Sakura said softly.

"Ok. Don't be frightened, dear, but is there any chance that you could be pregnant?"

Outside the door Sasuke's whole body twitched and he glared at his brother. Itachi ignored him, finding an interesting spot on the wall to stare at. Kakashi got ready to grab them both if a fight broke out. Seeing this, Sasuke put his head down and curbed his anger, but his tail whipped back and forth.

Inside, Sakura's eyes opened wide and she gasped. "Of _course not_, Baa-chan! I've never even, uh, never—you know. There's absolutely, one-thousand percent, _no_ chance of that."

Sasuke's tail stopped. His head came up and he triumphantly caught Itachi's eye. _Hah!_ his knowing glance said. He _knew_ Sakura would never do the things his brother had boasted about. Itachi shrugged and started cleaning his paw.

Inside the room, Sakura's face glowed with embarrassment. The old woman patted her consolingly on the back.

"I'm sorry, child. I had to know. The remedy we're going to give you can cause miscarriage. It's best to get everything out into the open rather than grieve over a life lost." Neko-baa stroked Sakura's hair back from her too-warm forehead. "Nade, I think it'd be best for Sakura to change back while she recovers from this. Cat scratch fever is more serious for a human body. As a cat, she'll better metabolize the herbs I want her to take plus, the illness will not progress as quickly." She pressed Sakura back onto the futon.

"How long will it take, Baa-chan?" Sakura suddenly realized she couldn't be down for too long, or Itachi could become ill.

"It varies dear. If you get plenty of rest and take your medicine, perhaps four or five—"

"But—" She tried to get up and the older women persistently pushed her back into her pillow. "What about Itachi? His treat—"

"_I'll_ take care of that until you're better," Tsunade assured her. "I need to speak with him about a rather important mission I want him to undertake anyhow."

Outside, Sasuke kept looking from the door to his brother and back again. _'What are they talking about?'_

"He doesn't want anyone to know."

"He doesn't, does he?" Tsunade traded a look with Neko-baa. "Well, we'll worry about that later."

"My experiments—"

"I'll take care of them, too. You keep meticulous notes. I'm sure I'll be able to follow up easily enough. I'll even see if I can remove that problem for Sasuke, ok? You just need to worry about getting _yourself_ better. We'll bring you back to your apartment so you can have some peace and quiet, too." Tsunade laid her hand on Sakura's brow soothingly and Sakura relaxed, automatically closing her eyes while Tsunade eased her pain with soothing chakra.

"Yes. The boys will take good care of you. I'll make sure of it," Neko-baa guaranteed her. "Now remember, just like before, you won't be able to speak while you're shape-shifted—but if you need anything, just let them know. That's kind of what I'd returned to talk to you about anyhow, Sakura-chan."

"Hm," Sakura's brow rose groggily.

"Pay attention, dear," Neko-baa said softly. "Whenever the moon is full, you must return to your cat form for twenty-four hours. Just as at the birth of the new moon, your captives will resume their form for a day. Nothing else is different—they are still your captives and, as such, may not harm you. However, it will probably be best if you remain away from them when you are a cat. You will be vulnerable the same as any feline."

"Oh," Sakura said, groggily calculating that it should be almost a full moon now.

"Don't worry about that now, Sakura. We'll get you to your apartment and work from there."

"It probably will draw suspicion if we carry her out like this. I'd rather they not see her in this state."

"Yes." Neko-baa placed her hands over Sakura, changing her back to her small, cat form. "I'll carry her out under my shawl. No one will see her. Nade, you come with the boys."

"Kakashi, escort Neko-baa to Sakura's apartment through transportation jutsu. I'll follow." She reached down and snatched the two Uchiha boys off the floor. They all went down the hall and were almost out of the house when Neko-baa stopped short.

"Who do we have here?" she said with a knowing smile.

The black and tan, striated cat running across the room slid to a halt and a low growl rumbled from his throat. Neko-baa took another step toward him and he hissed, scrambling back.

"Huh? Still up to mischief, aren't you, _old man_?"

"Meddling witch," Madara hissed and disappeared out the door, racing across the yard to jump up into a tree and watch them carefully. The group continued on and transported to Sakura's apartment.

"Old man?" Kakashi asked. "Do you know him, Neko-baa?"

"Of course. He's Uchiha Madara—the most selfish, troublesome man who ever walked the five nations. And he's probably the most dangerous, too. Don't be fooled by his friendly manner or his foolish trickery—it's all an act."

0o0o0

0o0o0

0o0o0

Reviews=Love=Author's Inspiration


	27. Chapter 27 Instincts

DNON

A/N-Thanks for all the reviews from the last chapter—they made me smile.

I want to save a special thank you to Sakura's Unicorn for editing and helping with my stories. She's the best. One of these days I'm gonna get on my bike and come visit you, SU!

Enjoy everyone!

0o0o0

Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter 27—Instincts

0o0o0

0o0o0

0o0o0

"Fish, _again_?"

Karin grimaced at the slightly burned meal on a stick that Juugo handed her, along with a cup of water.

'What am I, an inmate?' she thought, looking at the clear liquid in the cup. She wrinkled her nose when she saw sediment on the bottom. "Uh-uh," she mumbled to herself. "Even _inmates_ get better treatment than _this_." Turning to her teammates, she whined. "Why can't we go back to the village and eat at that little teahouse?" She shifted uncomfortably on the bumpy log. "It was so cute."

Suigetsu swallowed a curse and shot the sky a long-suffering look.

"Look, it's my turn to cook and Juugo's turn to catch dinner. You know he doesn't kill his furry, little buddies, so this is a feast." Suigetsu indicated the half dozen, good-sized trout hanging over the fire. "Consider yourself lucky that he's not so tender-hearted that he wants us to eat boiled bark and roots." Suigetsu scowled when she made a rude gesture. "Anytime you want to get off your lazy ass and hunt or earn a few bucks, you're welcome to treat us to lunch."

Karin made a face and picked at the bland food that stared lifelessly at her. She wished Sasuke was here. He wouldn't tell her to work. He'd go hunting or maybe pay for a night at a hotel—then she'd have a room to herself. 'Or better yet,' she smiled to herself, 'Sasuke-kun could _share_ with me!'

Pouting sullenly, she thought, 'Well, that hasn't happened _yet,_ but I'm sure that one day, he'll realize what his hormones must surely be telling him—that I'm the girl of his dreams. Why _else_ would he have asked me to be on his team?'

Until the day that Sasuke confessed, she just had to put up with these two losers.

"_Che_. Like I would ever treat _you_," Karin stuck her tongue out at him. "And all you ever hunt is _fish_."

"I _like_ fish." Suigetsu bit into his dinner with relish, humming in contentment.

"At least you could cut off its head," she complained. "I feel like it's _watching_ me."

"Just think of how the poor fish feels," Suigetsu objected. "It sacrificed its _life_ for an ungrateful hag like you."

Juugo silently watched his teammates' rude banter as he slowly ate his meal. He was really concerned. Those Akatsuki could return at any time and Team Hebi was travelling blind. Karin didn't know why she couldn't sense Sasuke's chakra properly and the birds and animals he asked to look hadn't seen hide nor hair of the leader of their party, either.

He worried that Sasuke might be far away and the blue-haired woman might not be so polite the next time she crossed their path. As serene as she seemed at first glance, he sensed she was a very dangerous enemy.

It especially worried him that his animal friends could not give him a sense of the woman. They were so fearful of her presence that they mindlessly fled whenever she was around.

Also, without Sasuke, he constantly worried that he might turn back into the monster he was and hurt someone. His instincts screamed that they should find a deep, dark dungeon—and hide. He just wasn't sure if he could handle this situation much longer without his leader.

Juugo sighed and set his fish down to go try to make peace between the others before things got out of hand.

0o0o0

0o0o0

The enormous, blue cat stretched out with a sleepy groan on the windowsill of the Hokage's office—the afternoon sunlight warmed his fur while he waited for Tsunade.

'Man this Kage business is tedious,' he thought. 'We could be out sparring, drinking, or _anything_ more interesting than this.'

He yawned and watched the tick of the Hokage's eyebrow as it twitched in vexation.

'Looks like she's thinking the same thing as me."

Tsunade cursed and pushed aside the huge stack of paperwork that Shizune just dropped off. She pulled a bottle of sake out of her desk drawer.

Suddenly interested, Kisame joined her at her desk.

"Have I told you today just how attractive you are, Tsunade-chan?" he purred.

Her eyebrow twitched again. "If you wanted some, all you had to do was ask." She set another cup out and filled it with sake.

"Oh yes, I do, but I still think you're the hottest Kage I've ever seen."

Tsunade chuckled. "Haven't you seen the Mizukage?"

Kisame sat before her and tilted his head sideways in contemplation. "Sure, but she pales next to you, sweetheart."

The blonde grinned at him. "Compliments will only get you seconds." Tsunade tipped the sake decanter toward him.

Kisame wiggled his whiskers at her flirtatiously. "So, how's the kitten doing?"

Tsunade downed another cup with a gusty sigh and refilled her glass. "She's fine." Kisame had learned that Sakura was feeling under the weather, but Tsunade kept him in the dark about what ailed her. "The Uchiha brothers are taking good care of her."

"You're letting _both_ of them watch her?" the cat asked, his black eyes wide with wonder. "Woman, are you crazy?"

She waved her hand at him. "_Psh_. They'll be fine."

"They'll _kill_ each other."

"Neko-chan gave them a good talking to—especially the brat. You'd be surprised at just how powerful that woman is."

"Not likely," Kisame chuckled, waving his tail under her nose. "But, I _have_ seen what happens when those two _siblings_ are left alone. You're going to find a bloody warzone. I've had to patch Itachi up more than once when they've had one of their _brotherly_ spats."

"That reminds me..." Tsunade pushed the buzzer on her desk and Shizune reappeared.

"Tell Kakashi that I'll want him to come along today while I'm working on Sakura's project. And make sure to have the entire floor cleared where Sakura's lab is." Tsunade had an important mission to discuss with Itachi while she healed him and she wanted to hammer out the details in absolute privacy. "Tell them we're fumigating or something. I don't want to be interrupted."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Shizune left. Tsunade turned to Kisame and poured the over-sized cat another cup of sake.

"Now, Kisame-kun, Sakura told me you've come across some amazing medical scrolls. I want you to tell me all about them."

0o0o0

0o0o0

Much of Sakura's recovery time was a fuzzy blur. She recalled Itachi gently coaxing her awake long enough to drink the bitter liquid that Baa-chan prescribed for her illness. Sasuke woke her, too—usually by poking her with a spoon or whatever object was close at hand. Then he'd order her to drink and sit with his arms crossed, glaring at her dourly until she took her medicine.

Sakura knew this time to recover was a luxury and being in cat form made it so much easier to rest.

'_A cat's time is her own_,' she thought as she snuggled down into the warm cocoon of pillows on her bed, wrapped her tail around herself, and drifted off again.

0o0o0

Sasuke left the bedroom after making sure his ex-teammate-turned-cat took the tonic Baa-chan left for her. Neko-baa was really testing his tolerance far beyond any expected limits, making him stay so close to his murdering bastard of a brother. When he came back into the living room, his fist clenched at the sight of Itachi sitting in the chair, reading one of Sakura's medical scrolls as if it was the most natural thing in the world for them to be together in the same place.

"I don't see why you can't just take care of her by yourself," he grumbled under his breath.

"You heard Neko-baa." Itachi uncrossed his legs and set down the scroll. "We were _both_ charged with Sakura's care, otouto, and we will _each_ take responsibility for her wellbeing."

"_Tch_." Sasuke claimed the couch and lay down, facing away from his brother. He still couldn't believe he was stuck here, playing nursemaid to a damn cat while the object of his fixation for the last eight years sat not five feet away from him. Were it not for the threat of Konoha's Hokage _and_ Neko-baa-chan's steely warnings, he would have already slit Itachi's throat while he slept.

He grunted in aggravation. Well, at least he would have tried. There was no way Itachi wouldn't put up some kind of fight. Weirdly enough, his older brother truly seemed to enjoy the death matches and verbal spars they'd shared up until now—much like how Itachi had teased him as a child, back when he'd foolishly worshipped his older brother.

Sasuke's stomach growled and he sighed.

'Damn,' he thought, staring at the floral design on the cushion in from of him, 'there's no food here.' Except for a few dishes, Sakura's cupboards were bare. 'Does she really _live_ here?'

"When's Kakashi coming back?" Sasuke finally asked crossly. From Sakura's open window, he could smell the mouthwatering aroma of the food carts down the road. Knowing Kakashi's penchant for procrastination, it could be _hours_ before they got anything to eat.

Itachi, also hearing Sasuke's stomach growling, fought hard not to smirk at his impatient little brother. "He said he'd bring supplies back after he checked in with the Hokage and picked up more medication."

"_Hn_," Sasuke grunted in disapproval, closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

A few hours later, the door handle jiggled as Kakashi let himself in. He opened the door to an empty living room, as expected. When the two Uchiha—who were told to keep themselves concealed—came out from the kitchen, Kakashi watched them for signs that they'd been fighting since he left, but it appeared the old lore mistress' coercion was enough to keep them in line. He chuckled quietly to himself. '_Leave it to a woman_,' he thought as he handed Sasuke the grocery bags.

"Took you long enough."

"Well, when I left the store, there was this old lady carrying some heavy bags and I—"

"_Save it_," Sasuke growled.

"You're welcome, Sasuke-kun." Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "How's Sakura?"

Sasuke ignored him, going into the kitchen to root through the bags. Itachi nodded a greeting to the copy-nin. "Sakura's sleeping. Sasuke took care of her last."

Kakashi eyed the younger Uchiha thoughtfully. It rather surprised him that Sasuke would help at all. Maybe he'd found a little humility after Sakura's help with that nasty seal on his back. Or maybe he just felt guilty for placing Sakura in the position she was in right now.

'Well,' he reflected, 'at least the boy's shown he still has a conscience left after living with Orochimaru for three years. That in itself is quite a feat.'

"Itachi, you should eat now." Kakashi told him. "The Hokage's coming by to collect you. Sasuke, you're in charge of Sakura's care until Itachi comes back. Baa-chan left instructions that she should rest as much as possible, take her tonic every four hours, and eat if she's hungry." Kakashi fixed his lone eye on him with deep consideration. "I don't know what the Hokage has planned, but Itachi shouldn't be gone long." He wanted to trust the boy completely again, but he still had his doubts. Although, Kakashi knew, when it came to Sakura, Sasuke's instinct had usually been to protect her. "You can handle that, right?"

Sasuke scoffed, took a bite of his onigiri, and went to the only place in the tiny apartment where he could get away from his brother and nagging, old sensei—Sakura's room.

Sakura was sound asleep, nestled in a pile of pillows in the middle of the bed—leaving him nowhere to sit except a frilly, pink stool. Instead, he chose the floor and leaned back against the bed. He ate his food while listening to the quiet conversation of his mentor and brother in the next room.

Looking around Sakura's room, there wasn't much to see. A pile of medical jutsu scrolls on her desk, a dozen pictures taped to the mirror above her dresser, and the flowery bedspread. Surprisingly, she still had the picture of Team Seven which was in a place of prominence on her nightstand—he'd lost track of his copy of the photo years ago.

Studying the young, genin team, Sasuke wondered what Naruto was doing right now and how he'd managed to not be a part of this crazy capture of the Akatsuki. This kind of madcap scheme seemed right up the dobe's ally. Even Kakashi and his boorish replacement, Sai, were part of this mission.

The sun was warm on the back of his neck. The heat of the day along with the quiet and finally having his hunger sated made his eyelids feel heavy. Sasuke leaned his head back against the bed while he gazed at his old team and thought about his genin days—he eventually dozed off.

0o0o0

Sakura blinked her eyes open in the dim light of the day.

'It must be late afternoon,' she thought, sleepily stretching her limbs after a nice, long nap.

Her window was open a crack, letting in a soft breeze and a hundred different scents—chief among them, the mouth-watering aroma of fresh, cooked fish. Her favorite vendor was just down the road from her apartment.

When her tummy grumbled hungrily, she realized she hadn't eaten in a while. In cat form, Sakura's animal instincts made her more aware of her body's needs and there was no way she could ignore them.

'If I'm in my house then there isn't any food,' she thought unhappily. 'I cleaned everything edible out of the fridge before my last mission.'

What was she going to eat?

She stood up and immediately fell over. Perplexed by her lack of coordination, she tried again.

'Whoa.' She sat on her haunches. 'Slow down, girl.' She'd thought she felt better, but apparently, her body didn't quite agree. 'Maybe I just need a few minutes to readjust to this form after sleeping so long.' She lay back down on a pillow to wait and looked around her.

'That's different,' she noticed, seeing the strange, black, feather-like thing sticking up at the side of her bed. As she watched, it swayed back and forth with the air currents from the window.

Her natural inquisitiveness overriding her sense of vertigo, she cautiously crept over the edge of the pillows, careful not to move too fast and make herself dizzy again. Her tail twitched as she watched the feather rock to and fro, her eyes following with growing interest it as she resisted the urge to attack. In her fascination with its waving, she'd forgotten to investigate just what the object was. She reached out one paw and ever so slightly batted the shining, black curiosity. The way it bounced back pleased her and her tail twitched in delight. She batted it a few more times, her haunches bunched as she readied to pounce on her new found toy—until it grunted.

Scooting back, Sakura's fur stood on end. She hid behind the pillows and peeked out cautiously.

'What am I doing?' she thought, shaking her head. She shifted to the side to get a better look at the thing she was about to jump on.

'_Sasuke-kun!?_ What's he doing in my room?' A warm feeling overtook her when she realized the boy she'd crushed on for half her life was asleep against the side of her bed. She sat watching him breath evenly. He looked so peaceful—and handsome. The black oddity, she saw now, was just a bit of his hair sticking up.

'Good thing I didn't attack it,' she thought, feeling foolish. 'Sasuke might've cut me in two if I'd jumped on his head.' She shivered.

She sniffed as the scent of food caught her attention once more. She was suddenly ravenous.

'Sasuke smells like food,' she realized. Sniffing delicately, she moved closer to him.

'Tuna!'' Her tummy ached at the delicious aroma coming from his lips. Carefully she edged closer. There, on his chin was a single piece of rice that must have stuck when he ate dinner.

Sakura knew she shouldn't—but Sasuke smelled so good and she was _so,_ _so_ hungry. She licked her chops, her olfactory senses catching the delicious aroma and pushing aside her sense of reason as natural her instinct took over.

Carefully, Sakura placed one paw on Sasuke's shoulder. When he didn't rouse, she put another paw on his chest, leaned over as far as she could and nipped the bit of rice from his chin, swallowing it whole. Before she pulled back, she noticed that Sasuke also had a bit of dressing smudged on his lip.

It smelled yummy.

She flicked a glance at him, but he was still sleeping. Her whiskers twitched in anticipation she closed her eyes for a second and sniffed the delicious aroma again. Her mouth was watering—she couldn't stop herself.

Sakura licked the corner of Sasuke's lips.

Sasuke's eyes opened wide and Sakura jerked away, losing her balance, and tumbling from the bed. She landed on her feet, barely, but was forced to sit back down as lightheadedness hit her again.

Sasuke touched his mouth uncertainly where he'd felt the tiny tongue stroke. 'What the…?' His neck felt hot when he realized what she was doing. Sasuke glared at her.

"You're _still_ annoying," he grumbled, getting up, and leaving the room. He shut the door behind him when she tried to follow. Sakura meowed and pawed at the door, wanting to tell him she was sorry and that it wasn't easy to resist her instincts as a cat.

Sasuke ignored Sakura's meowing and pawing, going back to his station on the couch. He wiped his lips again where Sakura licked him.

'What the hell was she doing?' he thought, his ears burning. He sure as hell didn't want to go ask her—she couldn't talk anyhow. "Damn, annoying girl." He'd let her out when Itachi came back.

'She likes _him_ better anyhow,' he thought irritably.

'But she was kissing _me_.' The sneaky thought squirmed from the back of his brain.

"Damn girl," he growled again, crossing his arms and staring at the wall. After a while, he realized the scratching had stopped and Sakura was no longer crying to be let out. He wondered what the Hokage would think if she came back to see he'd locked Sakura in her room.

Not that he was afraid of the bossy blonde—he just wasn't in the mood to listen another of her tirades.

Sasuke got up and opened the door to Sakura's room then went into the kitchen to make her something to eat.

'Maybe if Tsunade sees I've done my share while Itachi's gone, she'll put in a good word and Baa-chan will release me from this hellish punishment sooner.' He opened a can of tuna and set it on the floor for Sakura. 'After all, I'm not one of the Akatsuki—Itachi is.' When she didn't come running he went into her room to see why.

She wasn't there.

"Sakura," he called, starting to lose his patience. Sasuke looked under the bed and then pushed all the pillows apart.

"Sakura, _quit_ hiding and come eat," he hissed.

He opened her closet, checking each corner, but she wasn't there. Turning back to her bed, he saw the open window.

"She _wouldn't_." He kneeled on her bed and looked at the window ledge. There, clear as day on the dusty ledge, was a single paw-print.

She'd escaped.

"Damn it!"

Tsunade would kill him.

'Now what?'

He couldn't just walk out of Sakura's apartment and down the street. He was a fucking _missing-nin_! He wouldn't get fifty feet without a hundred ninja descending on him. As he stood thinking, he looked at Sakura's open closet and saw some of her clothes hanging there.

0o0o0

Sasuke hadn't gone twenty steps down the busy street when he ran into trouble.

"_Haruno Sakura_!"

Sasuke froze and turned slowly toward the angry voice that called the name of the girl he'd henged into. The woman looked vaguely familiar—someone he'd seen long ago—before he'd left the village.

"How dare you walk right by me and act as if you don't even know your own _mother_!"

_Mother?! _His eyes shifted left and right, looking for an avenue of escape.

"For heaven's sake, Sakura, I can't believe your rudeness!" She grabbed his arm. "Come home with me for a bit. I was coming to get you because I need to talk with you."

Being dragged along by the small woman, he looked at her familiar features until it clicked in his head. Now he remembered the elder Haruno—he'd seen Sakura with her parents after their Academy graduation.

'Well,' he figured, 'it might be wise to follow her—if Sakura ran away, she might have gone to her family home.'

The bothersome woman lectured him all the way back to the house. Listening to her harrying voice, Sasuke also remembered hearing her scold Sakura one afternoon—when the pink-haired girl went to the Training Grounds with him and Naruto to practice throwing kunai, instead of attending the tea ceremony classes her mother had arranged. The woman had browbeaten Sakura until she left practice.

"You're gone on another one of those _ridiculous_ missionsfor over a month and you don't even have the common_ courtesy_ to check in with me and let me know your home _safe_?" the elder Haruno said incredulously, her eyes flashing as she plodded down the road, dragging him along.

"Instead, I have to hear it second-hand from that perverted sensei of yours." She fell silent for a moment, waiting for the apology she expected from Sakura—which the _real_ Sakura would've had the sense to give. When it wasn't forthcoming, Mrs. Haruno became even more irritated.

"That's _it_! I think it's high time you retired, Sakura. If you settle down now, you can still work at the hospital until your first child is born."

"_Child_?" Sasuke finally answered, stopping on the path, inadvertently making Sakura's mother stop, too.

"Yes, child!" She tugged him harder and they moved forward. "Most of my friends already have their _second_ grandchild and all I can say for _my_ daughter is that you can hit harder than a man! A daughter with super strength! I'm the laughing stock of the mercantile class. You need to stop with this ninja nonsense. I'm sure if your father was still alive, he would agree with me."

Sakura's father died—he wondered when. Both of her parents had been alive before he left.

"It's all _his_ fault to begin with, letting you join that _stupid_ Academy. I told him it was a bad idea. Our family doesn't come from a ninja clan and _you_ don't belong with them," she prattled on while Sasuke kept a sharp watch for signs of the little, white cat.

'If this woman was my mother, I'd avoid her, too,' he thought wryly. He wondered what she would say if he dropped his henge. She'd probably have a heart attack.

When they came to her house, Sasuke surreptitiously checked to see if Sakura had been there, but there was no sign outside. He frowned.

"For heaven's sake, don't make ugly faces, Sakura. Come inside, dear. I have something for you."

Sasuke sighed and followed the irksome woman inside—only to check for the cat—just in case Sakura had been able to get into her old house. He had to hurry and find her before Tsunade came back and found them both gone.

"Go into your room and change, dear. I have something special for you on the bed."

Sasuke made another face at her back and went down the hall she indicated. He found Sakura's room easy enough—painted the same pastel pink as her hair, stuffed animals covering one end of the bed—this had to be her childhood room. It reminded him exactly of the girly-girl she'd been when first on Team Seven.

Spread out on the bed was a silver and pearl trimmed, white kimono. Sakura's mother came up behind him, squeezing his shoulders warmly.

"Isn't it lovely?" she sighed happily. "I ordered it months ago. I wanted to surprise you."

"What for?"

This time she frowned at him. "It's your wedding kimono, of course. Isn't it _gorgeous_? I can't _wait_ to see it on you," she crowed. Her arm fell from his shoulder to his waist and she pulled him closer to the gown. "Hurry and get undressed." She reached for the zipper of his shirt.

Sasuke quickly pushed away, backing out from the room. "_Wedding_?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." She held up an envelope. "I've arranged an omiai for you."

"_Omiai_?"

"Yes, this is a picture of your fiancé. Come take a look."

Sakura wouldn't agree to marry someone sight unseen, _would she_? Wasn't an omaii a _mutual_ agreement? If she hadn't seen her mother in months, when did Sakura have time to agree to this? There was no way—between all her other responsibilities, Sakura had not done this, he decided. Her pushy mother must have decided it on her own.

"I haven't agreed to marry anyone."

"I know. You're too busy to take the time and you were gone when Hito's parents sent a request, so I accepted for you. Trust me, you'll love Hito. He has his own _very_ successful grocery and he's only twenty-nine. He's a good match for you. Just look at his picture. He's quite handsome."

"No." Sasuke tried to turn away and the elder Haruno snagged his shirt, stopping him.

"Now you listen to me, young lady. There's no way you can marry into one of those ninja clans, so forget it. They stick with their own. And with your atrocious reputation for beating people up and the gossip about you learning to drink like a sailor from that Hokage of yours, no other decent man is going to make you an offer. If you don't accept Hito's proposal, you're gonna end up old and alone—_just like her_."

'Sakura definitely wouldn't come back here,' Sasuke thought as he yanked his arm away from her mother.

"This better not be about that _boy_." She warned, following him back down the hall. "It's time for you to grow up and forget him, _Sakura_."

Sasuke walked to the door, put his shoes on, and walked out.

"Sakura! If you don't take this offer I'm—"

He slammed the door in her face and went to find Sakura.

As Sasuke neared the road where Sakura's apartment was, he smelled the food vendor's carts and realized it would've made more sense for Sakura to remain close to home. He was surprised at how many of the sellers greeted Sakura by name as he passed them. He nodded politely to each one before quickly moving on so he didn't have to speak to any of them. He didn't see Sakura on the street, but when he checked behind the stores, he found evidence that she'd been there—the paw prints near the refuse bins were hers.

The refuse bins were locked, so she must have moved on. He closed his eyes and used his other senses to feel which way she might go. The appetizing smell of fried fish made his mouth water. Sakura would have smelled it, too. He followed his nose down the road to the tempura stand where, at the back door, the cook was feeding a dirty, white cat a bit of fish.

"There you are," he said softly and the man looked up.

"Sakura-san, is this little kitty yours?" he asked, smiling fondly. "I found her going through the trash. But then she asked for a treat so sweetly that I brought her out something fresh to eat."

Sasuke frowned down at Sakura and she dropped her head while her green eyes looked up guiltily at him.

"Come," he called and the cat took an uncertain step backwards.

He sighed and bent down to her level. He held out his hand to her and gestured for her to come closer. She walked hesitantly over to him and rubbed her cheek against the back of his hand. He picked her up and bowed to the shop owner.

"I apologize, sir. She's not usually this naughty."

The shopkeeper chuckled. "It's nothing, Sakura-san. Since she's your cat, she can come by any time for a treat. You're always so good to my family." He bowed.

"Arigato." Sasuke bowed again and turned toward Sakura's apartment. He didn't say another word to her the whole trip back. Her little heart was beating frantically under his fingertips.

He opened the door to Sakura's apartment and froze. The Hokage sat in the chair facing him with an irritated look on her face.

"Went for a little walk, did we?" Her eyebrow twitched spastically. "I thought you understood that Sakura was _ill_."

He shook his head. "That's not what—"

"She's filthy! What have you done with her, brat!" She took Sakura from him and flicked his forehead.

_Fuck!_ Sasuke grimaced and fell back, rubbing his forehead and glaring at Sakura's mentor. It felt like she'd cracked his damn _skull!_ He dropped his henge.

"Itachi, mix her medicine while I get her cleaned up." Tsunade brought Sakura into the bathroom.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're partly responsible for this?" she asked the little cat while she wiped dirt from her paws. Sakura bowed her head in guilt and Tsunade nodded.

"Well, no harm done…_this time_. Tonight's the full moon, so soon you'll be back to your human form. Until then, you'll stay in bed as ordered. Right, young lady?"

"Mrrw," Sakura answered, nodding her head.

Tsunade smirked at her cute, little apprentice. She was actually quite relieved that she'd come to no harm on her little adventure. "I've healed Itachi as much as I could. He should be fine for a few days, but I think you should hurry and get those samples from the brat. If their DNA is similar, I think you can use Sasuke's immune system to find a cure for Itachi." She rubbed the dirt and grease from the fried fish smudged into Sakura's whiskers. "Are you sure you don't want to let Sasuke know about Itachi's illness? If the brat knows the truth, this could go a lot easier." Sakura looked at her and shook her furry, little head. "All right," Tsunade shrugged. "We'll discuss this at length after you're feeling better." She carried Sakura back to her bed and closed the window.

"Take your meds and sleep. That's an order." Tsunade left to grill Sasuke as Itachi came in with Sakura's medicine. She shut the door behind her.

"All right, _brat_. What did you do?"

0o0o0

0o0o0

0o0o0

Things you probably already know:

Omiai-matchmaking or literally-a meeting—A meeting arranged by families for two potential marriage candidates, (usually) mutually agreed upon by _both_ candidates beforehand. (In some cases though, young men or women are expected to accept the match their parents decide, without dispute.)


	28. Chapter 28 Rumor

A/N-Thank you, Sakura's Unicorn, for the excellent editing and help.

If you want to see a preview of Finders Keepers Ch 33, go to my youtube account—my profile has the info. If you subscribe, you'll get the new previews as soon as they come out.

Enjoy the chapter. If it makes you smile then please review.

K&K

DNON

Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter 28- Rumor

If a cat washes behind its ears, it will rain. - English superstition

Dreaming of a white cat means good luck. - American superstition

In the Netherlands, cats were not allowed in rooms where private family discussions were going on. The Dutch believed that cats would definitely spread gossip around the town.—Netherlands superstition

0o0o0

0o0o0

0o0o0

"Pein-sama," Konan said softly, entering the ring of trees before stopping before the largest one in the center.

"Kai."

Thousands of paper fragments exploded outward to uncover the illusion of the mighty oak in the clearing's center. Konan entered the hidden doorway as the pieces spun and fluttered behind her, covering her entrance to meld once more into the genjutsu that created the huge tree, completely masking any sign of chakra within.

The emaciated man with dozens of chakra rods spewing from his shoulders eyed her thoughtfully. "They're not dead, Konan."

"Hai."

"I would know," he assured her.

"Of course, Pein-sama."

"Uchiha's dogs?"

She shook her head. "Useless. They've yet to find his scent. They're searching in—"

"Fire Country," he interrupted. "I know."

"Hai, Pein-sama."

"Uchiha is from the Leaf. Is it possible they've captured him, as well as the rest?"

"I don't see how that's possible, Nagato. To capture so many S-class ninja with no sign of a battle..." Konan shook her head in disbelief.

Nagato nodded, his eyes gazing warmly at his closest companion when she called his childhood name. They'd been through everything together and soon the world would know their pain and then peace would come to all.

"Very well." He nodded. "Let Uchiha's dogs sniff him out. Then we will see if he found our soldiers. If not, we'll simply take his. We will continue making our plans to crush the Leaf and take the Nine-Tails. Nothing must delay our plan for peace."

0o0o0

0o0o0

Sakura sank into the tub with a sigh of relief. She'd done two emergency surgeries this afternoon and she was tired, but happy. Another long day at the hospital was over and now that she was no longer sick and the full moon was no more, things could go back to normal. Well, as normal as things could get in her situation. Tonight, she planned to have a nice, long soak in the tub and go to bed. On her way home, she'd entertained thoughts of going to the Uchiha hot spring for a steamy soak, but she'd opted for the privacy of a locked door that the indoor tub offered.

She dipped her head under the water with a soft, bubbling moan. The wet heat felt amazing, easing the tension from her neck and scalp. The sweet-smelling soap suds soothed Sakura's senses. 'Twenty minutes of this,' she thought, 'and I'll be dead to the world.'

"Hmmm," she moaned.

_Scrif._

Sakura opened one eye and peeked over the edge of the deep tub, looking around the plain, white bathroom. There was nothing there.

'Of course not.' She closed her eyes and leaned her neck against the back of the tub. 'I checked the whole room when I came in to make sure none of those Akatsuki were around.' With a whole houseful of cats, she had to be extra careful to—

_Ker-spalsh!_

Sakura's eyes opened wide in disbelief as the water sank then swelled, overflowing the side of the tub. She shouted in surprise at the invasion of her privacy as the bubbles from her bath flew everywhere from the froth-free hole left in the water. Seconds later, a figure rose up—from the water's depths it came—a white and orange mass that gasped for air as its head crested above the waterline. Six-toed paws shot up and slapped the water in the deep tub, splashing soap into her face while Sakura pushed away from his body.

"Sakura-chan!" the cat sputtered, grinning widely, his furry cheeks wet and drooping as his sky-blue eyes popped open to see her.

"Deidara!" Sakura grabbed the soggy mass with two hands and heaved him out of the water. She turned him to face away from her as she sat up on her knees in the tub, lifting him out over the edge.

A deep, rumbling chuckle came from the dripping cat she held.

"_Surprise, unya!"_

"What the hell do you think you're do—" Sakura began yelling, when a tanto was shoved through the lock on the bathroom door, it was ripped open and Sai appeared, followed by Genma, and at least half of the other cats.

"Oh _shit_," Sakura hissed, dragging Deidara's drenched body back with a _slap_ against her chest to cover her naked breasts—thankfully, the rest of her was still under the bubbles.

Deidara's chuckle expanded into a full out laugh, booming through the small room. Sakura turned three shades of red as Sai stared blankly while Genma's look of concern widened into a mischievous grin so quickly, he nearly lost his favorite oral fix. A snicker broke out from one of the other four cats at the door, who'd come running at her scream—Sasori, Kakuzu, and Tobi out of curiosity, Hidan in hopes of seeing some bloodshed.

"Is there a problem, ugly?" Sai asked emotionlessly.

"_Ugly_?" Five pair of eyes switched to the ex-Black Ops ninja for an instant before swiveling back to the nude girl in unison.

"Sai! Get over here and get this idiot! The rest of you, scat!"

"That might be difficult, seeing as you are using him for a shirt at the moment, hag," Sai answered coolly as Genma pushed past him, snagging the towel off the counter.

Sakura growled.

"Sai, if you think our taichou is ugly then I think someone completely fucked up your sex education." Genma blocked the view from the others as he took the sodden feline from Sakura's grasp and she dove back under the bubbles for some semblance of privacy.

"Thank you, Genma-san."

"My _pleasure_, Taichou," Genma said with a wink. Sakura's face practically melted with embarrassment as he gave her a final glance with eyebrows raised before turning away with the blue-eyed cat.

"Deidara, now why would you do something so _naughty_?" Genma gave him a firm shake.

"I was bored, unya," Deidara whined loudly, "and I wanted to see Sakura-chan. She's always gone or with those _stupid_ Uchiha," he added with a huff, his tail twitching madly, showering the others with water.

"Next time, make an appointment," Genma scolded. "It's the cage for you tonight."

"It was _totally_ worth it," Deidara mumbled, purring loudly.

Genma shooed the others out of the way and Sai slammed the door shut.

In the silence of their departure, Sakura exhaled noisily. 'No peace is going to be found in a hot soak tonight,' she thought wryly. She let the water out of the tub and stood up to grab her towel.

Her towel…was _gone_!

Sakura remembered that Genma took it to wrap the sopping wet cat in. She also remembered that she'd forgotten to bring her robe!

"Damn it!" She looked around but all she could see was a hand towel left next to the sink. She grabbed it.

"_Shit_," she held the little cloth up to her and it barely covered anything! She had another towel _and_ her robe in her room, but there was no way in hell she was crossing that hallway naked _or_ asking someone to bring her other towel. A few of the _audience_ were probably outside the door, still waiting to comment on the first show.

Then she got a brilliant idea—_displacement jutsu!_

Sakura popped into her room across the hallway. She was glad she'd remembered to close her door earlier. She reached over to the closet to grab her robe and froze. Turning her head slowly toward the window until she saw the cat…

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke stared in astonishment as Sakura appeared—_naked_—in his room. She had something she was attempting to cover herself with in her hand that looked like a washcloth. His eyes widened at the sight of her—her damp hair dripping over water-slicked skin that shone in the bright moonlight coming from the window behind him. Astonished, he tried to stand up quickly on the thin ledge and instead fell off the windowsill with a _thud_. She'd squeaked his name and then jumped inside the open closet with a crash. Random items and boxes flew out in rapid succession—she kicked them out of her way until she was able to shut the door fully behind her. Sasuke sat on the floor and watched the door silently, listening to her curse and bump around as she tried to get some clothes on in the tiny space.

When Sakura emerged, dressed in her pajamas, she wouldn't even glance at him. She left the lights out and climbed into her bed, pulled the blankets over her head and pretended to go to sleep.

Sometime later, Itachi let himself into the room for the night. He nodded to Sasuke and walked across the floor to get to the bedroll. Halfway there, he stopped and picked up his paw, shaking it distastefully.

"There's water all over the floor," he said quietly to Sasuke as he carefully picked his path to the bed. "Do you know where it came from?"

Sasuke grunted and shrugged, curling his tail around himself and going back to sleep.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Itachi's eyes flicked over toward the clock once again as he wondered if perhaps the others who were called to the Hokage's office had somehow missed the memo. He sat quietly for another twenty minutes before he sighed and spoke.

"It might be better if I attempted this on my own, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade closed the folder she was perusing and shook her head. "Your days of acting alone are through, Itachi. I promised your brother justice and this time things are gonna be done _my_ way."

Itachi bowed his head in acquiescence.

Tsunade sat behind her desk, drumming her fingers over the files containing all the information she had on the Uchiha massacre. Across from her, sitting elegantly in a high-back chair, the black cat waited patiently.

Her office door opened and Sai sauntered in. At the same time, the window swung inward and Kakashi stepped through it.

"Yo. Sorry I'm late," Kakashi began. "On the way here I ran into—"

A letter opener flew across the room, stabbing into the wood door next to Sai's ear. His eyes widened a bit before an eerily pleasant smile graced his lips.

"Hokage-sama, why is it that even though I arrived at the same moment as Kakashi-san, you tried to end my life and not his?"

"Sai-kun, don't pick up bad habits from your elders. They don't become you…and besides, Kakashi apologized."

Sai opened his mouth to protest that she hadn't given him time to voice his apology, but when he saw her fingering the heavy, glass paperweight sitting on the blotter, he decided it would be prudent not to argue.

Perhaps only the copy-nin could get away with such a lifestyle of procrastination, he thought, shrugging. Then again, maybe it wasn't wise to use the person who paid his salary to test his theories on human behavior. It wasn't like he didn't have many other emotion reaction tests to conduct—Naruto was due back in town soon and he'd come up with a whole list of new names to use on Dickless.

Kakashi bowed. "You sent for us, Hokage-sama?"

"I have a mission for you three—S-class." When they nodded she went on. "Years ago, Danzo and the elders conspired behind the Sandaime's back to exterminate the Uchiha clan." As she said her next statement, she watched Itachi carefully, but he showed no sign of disagreement. "The Uchiha were not innocent in this. They also planned to take over the village at that time, but the Sandaime was aware of this and tried to negotiate a peace with the clan who was both key in establishing our village and a valuable asset and ally. You three are going to find enough evidence to bring Danzo, the elders, and anyone else involved to justice. It will be dangerous—perhaps even impossible, but I have faith that, together, the three of you will be successful in bringing justice to the Uchiha clan."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," the three men answered.

"Good." She nodded. "Now here's my plan."

0o0o0

0o0o0

Sasuke sat on the desk in Sakura's laboratory, looking at some of her notes and stacks of reports waiting to be finished. She'd gone to the cafeteria to get some coffee. She didn't say a word about it, but he knew she'd spent most of the previous night awake, embarrassed over last night's indecency incident. All this morning, she'd been distracted by it, too, doing things like putting sugar instead of salt into the miso soup she made for breakfast.

"_Hey, bitch, this food is disgusting." Hidan spit out his soup. "Where's that pasty artist? At least that pussy doesn't burn the food!"_

"_What?" Sakura asked, coming out of her daze to find the eggs she was cooking had burned to the bottom of the pan. "Oh, damn." _

"_Sakura-san, you have to work today, right?" Yamada took the too-hot pan from her and stuck in the sink while he gently led her away from the stove. "You go ahead. I'll make some porridge for these guys."_

"_Thank you, Yamada."_

_Sakura left to get ready for work and Sasuke went outside to get away from the others. He stepped on Hidan's tail on the way past, savoring the way the silver cat cursed and screamed. But his pleasure was short-lived—when he went to the garden, he'd been accosted by Tobi._

"_Sasuke-san! Sasuke-san! Have you seen Itachi-san? Tobi's been looking everywhere."_

_Sasuke ignored the marble-coated cat and sat staring at the fish in the koi pond, but the annoying idiot didn't take the hint and go away. Tobi chased a white butterfly that kept flitting around the pond near them. Finally out of breath from playing, he flopped next to Sasuke._

"_Sasuke-san, do you like being a kitty? Tobi likes it. It's lots of fun, but soon Tobi won't be a kitty no more."_

_Madara caught Sasuke's interested look and his tail twitched in excitement._

"_Does Sasuke-san want to stop being a kitty, too?" he asked._

"_How?"_

"_Oh, Tobi can't say, but if Sasuke-san wanted to join us—"_

"_Join the assholes who took in my murdering brother?" Sasuke scoffed._

"_You don't like your brother, do you, Sasuke-san? Itachi likes being a kitty, but Tobi can see that Sasuke-san's unhappy."_

"_Hn." Sasuke turned away from the bothersome cat and laid down on a sun-warmed rock._

'_He'll come around soon enough,' Madara thought craftily. _

0o0o0

0o0o0

"Deidara," the reddish-brown cat with the fawn colored eyes spoke from outside the room.

"Yeah, nya?" the fluffy, orange and white cat rolled over in his steel cage and stretched out lazily. It was almost noon and he'd been locked in here since his little adventure in the bathtub last night. Just thinking of how he'd surprised Sakura made him purr.

"I wonder what they're serving for lunch." Deidara hoped it was fish—he'd been eyeing the koi pond lately. When he heard no more from the voice outside the door he closed his eyes to nap until lunch was served.

"We are planning on leaving soon."

"Hmmm?" Deidara opened one eye.

"Have you forgotten your art?"

'No," Deidara huffed. "But even before we left the base, it'd been months since I've had a mission _worthy_ to be called art."

"Would you rather stay here and fool around with that girl?"

"That depends."

The voice paused again for a while before finally asking. "On what?"

"Are any of those Uchiha coming, too?"

0o0o0

0o0o0

Somehow Sakura had been brave enough to stutter an invitation to Sasuke to come to her lab, using the excuse that she wanted to study the seal on his back to figure out a way to remove it. Now, he lay, shirtless, face down on her exam table while she copied the patterns from his back and compared them to the notes she'd taken on seal removal. She still couldn't look him in the eye—she was too embarrassed. But she had to get some blood samples from him if she wanted to help Itachi.

She touched the seal lightly, her fingers tracing over the dark marks on his skin. Sasuke shivered and she pulled her hand away.

"Does it hurt?"

"No. Your fingers are cold."

She rubbed her hands together nervously.

'Just ask him already,' her Inner grumbled. 'He won't bite.'

"Yeah, right," she mumbled out loud. "I already know _that's_ not true."

"What's that?" Sasuke asked.

"Um, sorry…it's nothing."

In her head Sakura's Inner self laughed mockingly. Sakura knew she was right. She couldn't put this behind her unless she knew.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn?"

"You, um…you didn't… you didn't _see_ anything last night…did you?"

Sasuke glanced back at Sakura, who was supposed to be trying to heal him. Her eyes were staring at the wall and her face was bright red. Her discomfort was obvious—should he tell her the truth?

"It was dark," he said, not lying. His ears burned at the startling memory of her body, completely naked before him, radiant in the moon's light.

She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding in. "Yeah, you're right. It _was_ dark." She smiled at him in relief, her subconscious mind dismissing the concern that if she could see him, then he surely must have seen her. She put her hand over her brow and rubbed her tired eyes. "Thank goodness," she murmured to herself. She walked over and opened one of her supply cabinets.

Sasuke fought back a smirk. At least she could look him in the eye again. He owed her one anyway—when she found out the way he'd treated her mother….

"Come sit up, Sasuke-kun." She turned to him, hypodermic and spare vials in hand. "I need some blood samples. Make a fist." Expertly, she tied a rubber tube around his bicep and rubbed the skin above his vein with her finger before swabbing it.

"Okay…little prick."

He frowned at her and she blushed. "I meant the needle. You'll feel a little prick, Sasuke."

There was an urgent sounding knock at the laboratory door—she'd kept it locked for obvious reasons.

"Yo, Forehead! I know you're in there. I saw your light on."

"Damn it, Ino." Sakura grumbled, pulling the knot on the tube wrapped around Sasuke's arm. "Not now."

Ino pounded again. "I'm not leaving, Forehead."

Sakura looked up apologetically at Sasuke. "She won't stop until I let her in. You can hide in the closet."

Sasuke scowled.

"Please?"

When she finally opened the door and let Ino in, the blonde kunoichi looked suspicious, bending to look over Sakura's shoulder.

'She didn't hear me talking to Sasuke, did she?' Sakura stepped in front of her, blocking the nosy kunoichi's view of the room

"What's up?"

"Jeez, Forehead." Ino made a face. "What the hell is _up_ with you? Lately, you are always gone or working."

"Nothing. I've just been very busy." She turned around and saw Sasuke's shirt lying on the exam table. '_Shit_!' she thought as she grabbed it and panicked—afraid that she'd blow the whole mission, she hurriedly stuffed it up the back of her own shirt.

"I'll say." Ino eyed her weird actions skeptically. "You never go out with me anymore."

"Sorry, Pig. I know how vital your social life is to the safety of the village."

"Speaking of social lives, we need to go out before _yours_ is over."

Sakura looked at her questioningly and Ino crossed her arms and smiled smugly at her—that was _never_ a good sign. A bead of sweat trickled down her spine, soaking into Sasuke's shirt.

"Word has it that your mother's looking for a husband for you."

"Oh, God. I hope not." She thought her mother had gotten over trying to set her up with an eligible man after that fiasco last year when she made her go to an omiai with the wealthy, old bachelor who ran the fish market.

'Old is too kind a word,' her Inner snarled. 'More like _ancient, _or _one foot in the gra_—'

Sakura cut off her rude thoughts. "Who _told_ you this?"

In the closet, Sasuke sat up straighter, suddenly taking an interest in the conversation.

"My mother. She got it right from the source. Come out and have a drink, I—"

"I can't. I've got tons of work to do."

"_One_ _drink_ and I'll tell you everything she said."

"Forget it. You'll have to go out and have fun for both of us, Pig. My work is important—Hokage's orders." She pushed Ino toward the door.

Ino dug her feet in. "But, what are you going to do about your mother? She's gonna rope you into dating another dinos—"

'Another _what_?' Sasuke thought.

"I don't know." Sakura interrupted her. "I'll worry about it later."

"Later may be _too_ late." The blonde tapped two fingers against the middle of her best friend's brow and Sakura brushed her off with a wry grin.

"Nah, I just need to spend a little time visiting with her. She means well, but kaasan gets lonely with tousan gone." Sakura knew how to handle her mother. She only needed to calmly reassure her that she definitely hadn't given up on the dream of a having a family—she just needed time to serve her village first. If she spoke logically and civilly, her mother would respect her wishes.

"Thanks for the heads up anyway. If I finish here early, I'll come find you."

"_Tch_. Like _that_ will ever happen. Catch ya later, Forehead."

Sakura opened the closet. "The coast is clear, Sasuke-kun. Ino always has the worst timing. Let me get that blood sample and we can finish up here."

"What's on your back?"

"Oh!" She grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled out the lump of cloth. "It's your shirt. I panicked when I thought Ino might see it and I stuffed there. It's wrinkled now, sorry."

Sasuke tugged the dark shirt over his head, momentarily frozen inside it when the spicy-sweet scent he associated with his rose-haired teammate filled his nose. Heat tingling his neck, he shook his head and watched her gather her materials to work.

"What did Ino want?" As if he didn't already know—probably more than Sakura herself. He wondered if she'd react to her mother's meddling the way he had.

Sakura waved her hand. "Nothing. She just reminded me that I'm overdue to visit my family."

"Family?" He knew that look in her eyes. The look that said she was holding information—so annoying—she didn't need to walk on eggshells around him anymore.

"Well…yeah." She was sure he didn't want to hear about her father's death. He had his own grief to deal with. "It's been a while since I've been home. My mom worries if I don't check in occasionally."

He hadn't thought of it that way. Sasuke felt a twinge of remorse that he'd been short with the elder Haruno.

"So…when's the last time you saw your mother?"

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Reviews=Love=Author's Inspiration


	29. Chapter 29 Stratagem

DNON

A/N-Hey there, everyone!

I was thrilled to see this story has reached 250,000 hits, wow! And nearly 1800 reviews! Thank you!

I want to send out a big thanks to Sakura's Unicorn for her mad skillz and for helping me get back into posting. You're _awesome_, woman!

Tenshi303, you're an angel. MysticalFett, your reviews are like hilarious cliff notes—they had me roflmao. Scarlett, I just…_luvs_ you and EE, and hdf, you too, and wlkwos, and veronyka18, and too addicted to f... Man, you girls! I could go on and on _and on_ but I think you'd rather I get to the story—just know that you guys make me happy!

One last thing. You may have noticed I've deleted one of my stories. If you want to know why, you can check my profile.

Enjoy,

K&K

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Cat-o-Nine Tails

By Kaze and Kiba

Chapter 29—Stratagem

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Golden eyes reflected luminously in the dim light from the moon. Sasori leapt from the ground to the branch where the marbled cat with the red eyes waited. The puppet master arched his back and trilled with satisfaction.

"A cat's body truly is a work of art. Sleek, graceful, silent, and deadly. Imagine the devastation if I incorporate them into my puppet army."

"Report," Madara growled, twitching his tail testily. He was pissed that his Akatsuki soldiers were settling so easily into their new lives as cats. It didn't bode well for his bid to rule the world when his men wanted to lie in the sun and lick their balls all day.

"The zombie twins are in—as long as Kakuzu can make a profit and Hidan can get his precious scythe back."

Madara nodded. "Hoshigaki?"

"Smitten—but I think it's only a passing fancy. His Mist blood can't help but crave chaos and destruction. I predict he'll soon be over his crush and ready to leave."

"And your partner?"

Sasori sighed. "That depends on the Uchiha. You know the enmity there. If Itachi comes with us, there's a chance he'll refuse on principal alone."

"If he refuses when the time comes, _kill_ him," Madara hissed.

"Hai," Sasori acquiesced with a flick of his ear—he didn't hate the boy's company, but their contrary views on _true_ art were as vast as the ocean and the younger man's arguments could be tiresome.

The _snap_ of a twig was heard and both cats disappeared noiselessly into the night.

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The morning sun crept over Sakura's shoulder to shine on the brass plate engraved with her family name. She lifted her hand to knock on the red door and hesitated yet again.

'What am I waiting for? Dithering around like this in battle would be the death of me.'

'_Death_?' her Inner scoffed acidy. 'Death is _easy_ compared to mother's guilt trips. I'd rather face Akasuna no Sasori in battle again than explain our extended absence to her.'

Sakura took a deep, calming breath and plastered her warmest smile on her face, holding out her peace offering as her mother opened her door.

Her mother raised one eyebrow suspiciously at the daisies her delinquent daughter held. "So, does this mean you've come to your senses, young lady?" Her mother let her in.

"Excuse me, okaasan?" Sakura frowned in confusion, placing the flowers on the bench by the door. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"You've absolutely _no_ shame, Haruno Sakura."

Sakura stepped back in surprise. Sure, she thought her mother might be a little upset that she hadn't come straight home for a visit after returning to the village, but this was beyond a mother's guilt trip—her mother was acting both cold _and_ furious.

"I'm sorry I haven't visited lately, okaasan. I know it's no good reason, but my work has been demanding. I've made some breakthroughs in the field of—"

"_Humph!"_ the diminutive woman grunted in disinterest and turned away from her. "You might as well come in and pick up your things while you're here."

Sakura obediently followed her mother down the hall and gasped when she saw the flurry of effort that had evolved in her absence. Her old bedroom had been packed away—everything from her childhood was thrown into boxes and her room painted stark white. Even the curtains had been removed—it looked as if she'd never been there.

'Don't be silly,' she chided herself. 'Why shouldn't she repurpose your old room? You moved out almost a year ago,' she told herself.

It was strange, though—the way her mom always talked, Sakura thought she might never change her old bedroom around. Up until now, her mother had kept the room almost like a shrine, cleaning it thoroughly, but replacing each object exactly as Sakura had left it. Sakura likened it to a superstition—her mother believed that by keeping everything perfectly the same kept her daughter secure on her missions, ready to accept her safe return home. It was childish perhaps, but Sakura loved the gesture nonetheless and it stung a little to see it being discontinued without warning.

"So, you're finally going to make the sewing room you've always wished for?" she smiled. "Would you like me to help you set things up? I have the day off and—"

"No. I don't need this space. I'm simply cleaning out useless junk," her mother answered sharply.

"Oh," Sakura said slowly. It hurt to hear her childhood treasures called junk, but she wasn't a child anymore. She had no right to expect her mother to keep things as they were. "I understand."

"Do you?" her mother asked, folding the tops down on the boxes and quickly stacking them on top of each other. "I wonder about that," she muttered under her breath. Sakura's eyes widened. An idea came into her head—maybe her mother had other reasons for clearing out her house—reasons she was too embarrassed to speak of.

"Is something wrong, okaasan? If you need money or— "

"I don't need _anything_ from you anymore, Sakura. I see now how much your chosen path has ruined our relationship even if you can't," she snapped and waved her hand at the stack of boxes. "I won't wait around to watch you die for your village by some _noble_ sacrifice. You are no longer my child. Take these things if you want them and get out of _my_ house."

Sakura recoiled as if she'd been slapped. Her mother marched out of the room and left her standing there, blinking back sudden tears. She heard the door to her parents' bedroom slam.

Sakura looked at the small stack of boxes that contained the memorabilia of her youth. It was weird how her whole childhood fit into three small boxes. She'd always felt privileged, but it seemed so little now. Maybe because she felt the full indulgence of her father and mother's love, she never felt the need for lots of things. Also, learning to train as a ninja meant traveling light—accessories became unimportant.

She picked up the boxes and walked slowly down the hall. When she reached the threshold she paused and set them down. She went back to her mother's room and knocked softly on the door. There was no answer.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you, okaasan," she said through the door and, not knowing what else to say, she turned to leave. Sakura was just going through the front door when she heard her mother come out. She watched warily as her mother brought another box to her.

"If you concede to my wishes, you are welcome to return." She handed Sakura the larger box and gently pushed her out the front door. "No matter what you decide, do not dishonor the Haruno name." Her mother tossed the flowers she'd brought at Sakura's feet and shut the door firmly in her daughter's shocked face.

Sakura looked in bewilderment at the box in her hands and the others at her feet.

"What the hell just happened?"

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Tsunade opened the conference room door and glared at the three people waiting for her.

"You better have a good explanation for this meeting. My schedule is very busy."

"We want to know what you're doing about the recent sightings of Uchiha Itachi outside the village," Councilmember Homura inquired.

"Uchiha Itachi?" Tsunade raised her eyebrows. "What are you talking about? I've heard of no such thing." She crossed her arms and frowned at the captain. "Danzo, are your Black Ops withholding information from the Hokage Tower _again_?"

"If _your_ spies did their job, _my_ men would not have to babysit the village for you, Tsunade." The gruff old man glowered back at her, sparing a glare for the Copy-nin stationed lazily against the wall, ubiquitous trashy novel in hand. "Perhaps, if you're not up for the job, we should use this meeting to discuss your _replacement_," he threatened.

Tsunade's fist thumped on her desk and a loud _crack_ split the silence as the heavy oak splintered.

"Fat chance, Danzo." Tsunade growled menacingly at the meddling, old fart. "Now, what about Uchiha Itachi is bothering you?"

"He poses a dire threat to the village."

"Hmm…he already exterminated his clan and fled. What more could he want with this village?"

"He wants the kyuubi."

"He might, but the kyuubi is well protected. Naruto is with Jiraiya and, at the moment, neither of them is even close to the village." Tsunade sat behind her desk. "And from what you say, Itachi hasn't even entered the village. So what _else_ are you worried about, Danzo?

"If he's snooping around Konoha, he must want something," Homura insisted.

"Be that as it may, I don't have the manpower to sacrifice to hunt Uchiha Itachi."

"Danzo-sama, aren't your Root ninja better suited to this type of chore?" Kakashi suggested.

Danzo's eye twitched, but before he moved to speak, Councilmember Koharu stopped him.

"He's right, Danzo-san." the elder concurred. "Your men have better qualifications for finding the Uchiha. Tsunade's barely got enough ninja to protect the village with the demand that we take on so many missions."

The obdurate set of the elder's face stopped Danzo from arguing.

"I'm glad you see it my way, Koharu-san" Tsunade smiled and rose to leave. "I'll assign Hatake Kakashi to help you, Danzo. He's familiar with your ANBU troops, and I really can't spare anyone else of his caliber right now."

Kakashi left them with a promise to meet Danzo the next morning.

"If you'll excuse me, I've got a village to run." The Hokage shut the door behind her and sneered beneath her breath. "Take _that_, you pompous bastard."

'Ok, boys,' she thought, feeling the anticipation of finally bringing down her biggest antagonist, 'it's all up to you."

Danzo and the elders waited until Tsunade and Kakashi were down the stairs before anyone spoke. None of them noticed the long, grey tail flick out of sight on the beam above their heads.

"That _bitch_," Danzo swore. "Assigning that nosey jounin to check up on me," he grumbled. "Forget waiting for an opportune moment. I'm going to take her out, right—"

Homura placed a cautioning hand on his arm. "Settle down, Danzo-san. You must not get ahead of yourself. Now, what haven't you told us about Uchiha Itachi stalking the village? What do you think he's after?"

"I don't know," Danzo lied.

'He's not a child anymore.' Danzo thought uncertainly. 'Could it be he's figured out that he was a pawn?'

"Don't worry about it," he assured the Council members. "I'll send a unit out to meet up with him and try to find out what he wants. Hatake can accompany them." He smirked darkly.

'Last time they met up, Itachi almost killed Kakashi. This time, maybe he'll finish the job and I'll get that lazy, meddling bastard out of my hair for good. Itachi has nothing on me. He has no proof of the decisions that were made.'

Danzo's lips curled wickedly.

'Even if he did, he has no recourse. He's wanted for murder.'

Tsunade walked back into her office, dismissed her ANBU guards, and recited a jutsu to give extra privacy over the wards that were already in place. The giant, mottled gray crept out from under her desk and glanced idly around the room. The cat stretched and hopped onto the chair one of the elders had recently vacated.

"Sweetheart, that man is out to get you."

"I already know that. I'm the one who took the job he covets."

'_Eh_? That old man looks like he's just been let out of the critical care ward. Well,' he thought, 'appearances can be deceiving.'

"So Shimura Danzo was going to be chosen to be the fifth Hokage?"

"_Tch_," she scoffed. "Until _I_ decided to show up."

Kisame chuckled and jumped up on her desk. "Still, you'd better watch him closely. I'd hate to see that pretty, blonde head leave your shoulders."

"That's just been taken care of. He won't know what hit him."

"For every rat you can see, there are two more you don't, Princess."

"Better to deal with the rat I can see than the snake that I don't, Kisame-kun." She smiled sharply and he returned her pointed grin.

"Yes, indeed."

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Sakura slowly walked the training grounds. She'd taken it upon herself to have an extreme work out session, making clones of herself and fighting them for hours—all the while unconsciously trying to figure out why her mother had acted so strangely with her.

She had dropped off her boxes at her apartment, opening the envelope containing a photo of the mystery man whom her mother thought was her fated mate. And then the box—she'd removed the lid, but was loath to touch the satiny material inside, on top of which sat a ceremonial knife—her mother's message that her refusal would bring such dishonor on her, that she'd rather her daughter commit seppuku than bring the shame of a refusal back to her.

She shivered. Who was this man? Inside the envelope was a letter from her intended, but she hadn't the heart to even break the seal. She'd briefly glimpsed his photo and tried to be open-minded. He wasn't ugly, nor was he handsome. He looked, maybe…kind?

'_Boring_,' he Inner answered snarkily and, sadly, Sakura had to agree.

She sighed and climbed the hillside to watch the lights flicker on around the village while the stars blinked into view, one by one.

"I have too much on my hands right now to deal with a husband—especially a damn stranger who isn't even a shinobi."

Civilians didn't understand her profession and Sakura didn't think she could become a normal civilian. She pictured herself standing over a stove in a housecoat with a screaming baby on her hip and a swollen belly. She shivered again and flopped onto her back in the soft grass. After all she'd been through—all she'd accomplished—was being a grocer's wife all her mother could be proud of her for?

"Why now? Why couldn't this wait another year—or, better yet, three?"

'Do you really think you're fooling anyone?' her Inner taunted acidly, '_He_ won't come and save you from that fate with a ring and a promise.'

"I know, damn it. I've always known that," she snarled, mad at herself for stating the obvious. Sasuke was further away than he ever was. "I'm an idiot."

'We don't get to chose who we love,' her Inner reminded her morosely. 'Fate isn't that kind. She's a fickle mistress.'

Sakura shook her head to clear her thoughts and watched as a meteorite blazed across the heavens. She was no closer to her ex-teammate than she was to touching that star, still she made a wish on it—the foolish wish of a twelve year-old who would never have a whole heart again.

"There's no way I can get married. I'd have to quit my profession. I can't have children right now, I'm bound to the spell—what would my husband think of me growing fur and a tail once a month?" She laughed at the image of a civilian watching it happen. "He'd probably want me burned at the stake for being a witch or something."

'Don't go to the omiai,' her Inner suggested.

"Then my mother would never speak to me again."

'Have Shishou talk to her.'

"That would seal the coffin on our relationship—my mother would never forgive me if she thought I ran like a coward to the Hokage to get out of this—she'd be disgraced. Besides, Shishou has no jurisdiction over my mother's right to choose a husband for me. If anything, Tsunade is bound by law to support my mother's wishes as the head of the family. "I have to find another way to deter her."

'Ok. Go to the omiai, and make him disgusted by you.'

"Disgusted?"

'Yeah. Dress like a slob. Swear like a sailor. Drink like Shishou on a bender.'

Sakura chuckled. "My mother will be there. She'll know what I'm doing and _still_ disown me."

'Well, I don't know,' her Inner grouched. 'Let him see you pick your nose, or fart, or something.'

Sakura held her stomach and laughed out loud at her own ridiculous thoughts on escaping nuptials. "I've been working alongside men for years and most of them find occasion to proudly pass gas or lose a knuckle up their nostril," she giggled. "If this guy's one of _those,_ my actions might be a real turn on." She was laughing so hard now she was crying. It was a good thing she was alone—if someone saw her, they'd think she'd lost her mind, rolling around, giggling and chatting with no one on a chilly hillside.

'Well, I guess you could always start practicing stocking shelves,' her Inner relented with a heavy sigh.

That stopped her laughter cold. Sakura closed her eyes, but the tears took a little longer to cease.

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Twenty-four hours after the Hokage's ill-timed meeting with Danzo, Sakura had just dissolved miso paste into hot dashi and was adding tofu when Tsunade came into the kitchen.

"I'm glad I caught you before you got too far." Tsunade grabbed the bowl of wakame soaking on the counter and dumped it in the sink.

"Hey! I need that to make the soup," Sakura protested. Her shishou handed her a package.

"Use _this_ instead."

Sakura looked curiously at the dried herbs that Tsunade handed her. They weren't the same as any she'd used as a medical ninja. She opened it and smelled it. "What is this? Some kind of mint?"

Tsunade smiled. _"Nepetia Cataria."_

"_Cat_ mint?" Sakura asked in surprise.

Tsunade nodded. "A _special_ hybrid created especially for our guests. And you'll find out what it does soon enough. Finish making the cats' meal. Oh, and leave off two for your roommates. They won't be here for dinner."

"Hai, Shishou."

Sakura soaked the dried herb while the soup finished cooking. She also added a few sardines to each plate. Lastly, she added the mysterious herb to the broth and brought it all out to the dining room where seven hungry cats waited.

"About time, bitch. I'm starving to death here!" Hidan yowled from his spot, standing on his hind legs on the dining room table.

"Get off the table, you numbskull," Kakuzu murmured darkly, glaring at the lavender-eyed gray. "She can't put the tray down."

"She needs to serve _me_ first!" Hidan hissed. "I've been waiting here the longest. _Hey_!" He ducked when Kakuzu took a swipe at him and missed. Then suddenly the shadow of a cat flew into the room and soared over the table. Just as Hidan lifted his head again, his skull collided with the feet of an airborne ball of white and orange fluff.

"Sakura-chan, I'm here!"

"Hey, you bastard! Get off me!" Hidan bit Deidara's leg and they rolled across the room, making Sasori leap over them to avoid becoming entangled in the conflict. Finally, Deidara kicked Hidan in the nose and jumped onto Sakura's shoulders to get away from his cranky adversary.

"What's for dinner, Sakura-chan?" he asked, curling his fluffy tail around her neck and nuzzling her ear affectionately.

"Deidara-kun," Sakura scolded shoving him off, "your feet are all _wet_! What have you been into?"

"Sakura-chan! Tobi saw Deidara eating a fish from the koi pond!"

"Rat fink!" someone coughed.

"_Cat_ fink!" Deidara glared at Tobi, and Tobi jumped behind Kisame.

"Tobi was only telling the truth, Dei-chan!"

"Why _you_!" Deidra's fluffy tail whipped back and forth as he crouched, ready to pounce. Tsunade brought the impending fight to a halt with a hand on the feisty marmalade's back. Kisame, her ever-present shadow gave Tobi a nudge back to his place at the table.

"Never mind, gentlemen. Please, settle down and enjoy your food."

Sakura doled out the saucer-sized plates and bowls to everyone. Some mentioned thanks, but others dove in, gulping down the food with manners unbefitting even a hungry cat. Sakura watched, curious as to what effect the new 'ingredient' might have on them.

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I hope you can show some love with a review. I've been out for a bit and I could use the inspiration.

K&K


	30. Chapter 30 Trouble Brewing

DNON

Burakumin- an _extremely_, undesirable profession, having to do with blood or death. When making an omiai, these types of professions can be the kiss of death—_literally_, for one marrying into the merchant class. Calling a ninja a burakumin is actually a huge insult.

A/N-Hmmm…I might not update this one for a while, guys. I have a lot of work to do. On the good side, this is an _early_ update, so please enjoy it. I see we are getting close to the two thousand mark, how exciting! It would be cool to see it hit with this chapter.

Squee! I got new fan art! LMDAA over on DeviantArt made me a new Sakura kitty picture. Sweet! Thanks, LMDAA!

I wanna thank Sakura's Unicorn for being such a sweetie and editing this even though her computer's gone wonky, and it was so much extra work. You're Supergirl, Wonder Woman, and Cat Girl, all rolled into one! Nya!

Enjoy!

K&K

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Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter 31—Trouble Brewing

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"Kakuzuuu."

"Kakuzuuuuuu."

"Shut the fuck up, or I'll kill you." Ears laid flat, Kakuzu turned away and lay down with his head on his paws, trying to ignore the imbecile harassing him.

The silver-furred cat scooted between the front paws of the stitch-eared calico and rolled over on his back, making Kakuzu sit up quickly.

"Come on, Kakuzuuuu," Hidan purred. "Say it. You _know_ you like me."

Kakuzu's ear flicked in irritation and his red and green eyes rolled toward the ceiling. "I'd sooner eat razorblades and drink acid."

"Say it, motherfucker." Hidan captured Kakuzu's whiskered cheeks between his paws and dragged him nose-to-nose. "You _loooove_ me."

"Not for all the money in the _world_," Kakuzu hissed and batted Hidan's paws away.

"Kaaaakuuzuuu!" Hidan yowled and Kakuzu jumped on top of him. Fur flying, the roiling, hissing ball of cats tumbled across the room.

Sakura couldn't suppress a giggle as she watched the most wanted men in five countries acting completely ridiculous. She bit the back of her hand to keep from bursting. The effects of this cat mint were really something else.

"Shishou?" she whispered in fascination. "Will they stay like this as they change?"

Tsunade shook her head. "I expect not. But I believe the after effects will weaken their mental capacity and chakra abilities considerably until such time as the spell's effect takes hold once again. I trust Neko-chan knows what's she's doing."

Sakura nodded. Well, it was better than the opposite—six livid, S-class ninja with huge chips on their shoulders, all of them targeting the girl who was responsible for their feline incarceration. Sakura shivered.

"You know, kunoichi, I can offer you eternal youth," a voice trilled sociably from under Sakura's elbow. She lifted her arm to see enormous golden orbs staring intently at her. Sasori's pupils were dilated to mere slits.

"Somehow, I don't think that is a friendly proposal, Sasori-san."

The auburn feline blinked slowly, shrugged, brought his paw up, licked it, and began to bathe his face. "It will be _nearly_ painless."

"Thanks, but no thanks, ah, Saso…ri…_san_?" She'd suddenly lost the smooth talker's attention as the cat's eyes and head zipped up and down, up and down, following the flash of light climbing the wall. In an instant, he'd forgotten all about wooing her into his puppet army and became entirely focused on chasing the dancing light. Sakura glanced over to see Tsunade's bracelet catching the reflected light to distract the cat.

"Arigato, Shishou."

"That man has a one-track mind." Tsunade snickered, watching the former puppet master's attempt to climb the wall to get to the flickering bit of light. "He offered me the same thing." She sighed. "Imagine, _me_, being so vain as to want to stay forever young."

Sakura wisely kept her opinion to herself and nodded in agreement. "Imagine that."

"_SakuraSakuraSakura-chan!" _The marbled cat jumped on top of the dining room table. "Look what Tobi can do!" He leapt from the table to the top of a bookcase, pushed off and flipped over twice.

Just before his paws touched back down on the table, a half-empty bowl mysteriously slid into his path and his two front paws landed in the middle of it. Cat and bowl went skidding across the table, soaring across the room to shatter against the opposite wall with an earsplitting _crash,_ before the sloppy mess dripped down the wall along with the concussed feline.

"Fucking a—" Tobi wobbled clumsily to his feet before he giggled rather peculiarly and passed out.

"_Deidara_," Sakura scolded the marmalade cat snickering softly—his bowl of miso was missing from his spot at the table.

"Gomen-unya, Sakura-chan. My, um, paw…slipped, hm."

She was eyeing Deidara skeptically when a startled gasp drew her attention away from the mischievous imp.

"And what do you think _you're_ doing?" Tsunade crossed her arms over her magnificent bosom and looked down sternly at boneless pile of fluff suddenly lounging in her lap.

The huge, gray cat's head lolled back against her knee. His motor running loud, Kisame licked his chops and lazily wiggled his whiskers at her.

"I don't know what you put in the tea, darling, but I'll have me a double."

"You feeling all right?"

"Right as rain, sweetie."

Tsunade rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Is this guy for real?"

"My life was a genjutsu before I met you, princess." The humongous gray cat playfully reached up and batted at one of her long, blonde pigtails. Then he snagged it and chomped down on it, giving her hair a mischievous tug.

"Sakura," Tsunade nodded to the other guards assembled in the courtyard outside. "We'll take care of business during the transformation." She leaned over and whispered in her ear. "I want you to stay out of the Uchiha district until things return to normal."

"Wouldn't it be better if I stayed here instead of you, Shishou?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Not this time. I'm going to test the limits of the spell and I will determine the protocol for our guests will spend the rest of their stay. After I am satisfied, you can take over."

"Sakura-chan, unya!" Deidara jumped into her lap and rubbed his furry head under her chin. "You're not leaving now, yeah?"

"Sumimasen, Deidara-kun."

The gold and white cat stood on his hind legs with his front paws on her shoulders. His wide blue eyes met imploringly with hers. "You have to stay, unya. We'll have a blast, hn."

"I'm afraid I can't today." Sakura patted Deidara on the head and he rubbed into her hand affectionately and collapsed on his back into her lap.

"Stay," he insisted sulkily. He clasped onto her hand with his claws out, but not digging into her skin.

"Next time, I'll make time for you, Deidara-kun. I—_Deidara-kun_!"

In a fit of temper, Deidara gripped her hand, bit it almost hard enough to break her skin, and kicked his back legs belligerently. His tantrum only lasted seconds before he jumped out of her lap and ran under the table, where no amount of cajoling on Sakura's part could bring him back out.

'He's just like a naughty little boy,' she thought, trying not to laugh when he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Dei-kun, I promise we'll play next time," she pledged.

"Forget it, Sakura, it's time to for you to go. It's nearly sundown. I'll send Genma to tell you when it's ok to return."

"Hai, Shishou." She rose and stretched comfortably. "I wanted to get some work done at the lab at any rate."

"Don't work too hard." Tsunade cautioned her and nudged the enormous cat snoozing contentedly in her lap. "Okay, big boy, haul out and round up your friends here." She nodded to the guards standing around the edges of the room to gather the felines. "We've got work to do."

0o0o0

0o0o0

Sasuke stared at the clock on the wall, his tail twitching with impatience.

It was getting dark outside. Five hours passed since the Hokage left him and his brother here, in Sakura's apartment. Neko-baa-chan told them about the spell's monthly changes when they had to look after Sakura as a cat during the full moon and, supposedly, sometime tonight during the new moon, they would also change—he'd go back to being human for one whole day.

Twenty-four hours.

What could he do in twenty-four hours?

Itachi had been given a real mission. He, along with Kakashi and his replacement, Sai, had gone to find proof of the truths behind the Uchiha massacre. Sasuke wasn't sure that there was anything to uncover—other than the truth he already knew—that Itachi was a cold-blooded murderer.

And his own family? Was it true they became power-hungry enough to plan a coup? Aside from his mother, the Uchiha he remembered best were both proud and extremely arrogant—it bothered him that the trusted peacekeepers of the village might want to destroy the society their predecessors worked so hard to establish just for more power.

It also troubled him that being a cat was taking the edge off his hate. For years, he had honed his hatred to a sharp, glittering edge. Now, in feline form, Sasuke's feelings ran more towards his physical needs to survive as an animal, not his fixation for revenge.

Plus, Sasuke was angry that the Hokage hadn't given him the mission. Didn't he, of all the people concerned, deserve to be involved in finding evidence of the truths of the massacre? Hadn't he proven his worth by taking down the Snake Sannin single-handedly? Out of the three men staking out Danzo, the only one he might trust to find answers was Kakashi.

"_Tch_," he spat. Because he attacked his brother a few times, Tsunade barred him from this mission—some crap about being a loose cannon where stealth and delicacy were essential. She reminded him that he was one of the few people in the village to know about Inoichi's inquisition with Itachi. She also argued that Itachi had been watching Danzo for years and Itachi was familiar with the way the crafty old bastard ticked.

"_Trust me brat," she said, "When the shit hits the fan, everyone's going to get sprayed. You'll get your justice."_

Once again, she saddled him with babysitting duty—and Sakura was MIA.

She'd been in her apartment recently. There was a new stack of boxes in her room, plus, she'd left some fresh ebi senbei out on the kitchen counter, so, at least he didn't have to starve while he waited.

Still, he didn't see why he'd been chosen to watch over Sakura. Last time, the old broad practically gave him a concussion because he'd lost track of her for a few minutes.

Sasuke stretched his legs, digging his claws into the cushion until the fabric began to give. He jumped down from the back of the sofa and stalked into Sakura's bedroom. Maybe the new boxes carried some clue of where she was.

Starting with the smaller stack, Sasuke opened the first one.

Waste of time—it was full of stuffed animals.

The second and third boxes carried no clues as to where Sakura might be—silly trinkets, an old Academy notebook, and a locked diary. From what he could tell, it was all useless junk. He jumped onto the bed and batted the top off the biggest box.

The hair on his neck rose when he saw its contents. It was that damn dress that Sakura's mother tried to make him wear a few weeks ago! For half a moment, he considered destroying it altogether. His claws flexed in deliberation, but then something else captured his eye—under the kimono lay a gold, sheathed knife and next to that a manila envelope. Sasuke pawed open the envelope and pulled out a picture of some guy along with a smaller sealed envelope with Sakura's name scrawled on it.

Sasuke glared at the smug face of the guy who wanted to claim his ex-teammate. What in the hell did this old man have in common with Sakura? He had to be at least as old as Kakashi and he owned a grocery for god's sake.

He looked at the sealed envelope again, wondering what this guy wrote to her. Should he open it? It was Sakura's private mail, but from what he knew, she still didn't have much information about this arrangement her mother made. If he knew more about this loser, he could help stop her meddling mother.

He stuck one claw into the letter's sealed flap and hesitated.

Was it really any of his business?

Sasuke glanced over at the photo again and scowled—he tore the letter open.

_Dearest Sakura,_

_I am eager to finally meet you. For many years now, I've watched you grow from a gawky, young girl into the most beautiful blossom you are today. When your mother told my parents you were excited to meet me, I couldn't believe my luck._

_I wanted to let you know that I was married once before. However, the arrangement was annulled when the woman couldn't produce an heir for me. _

_I'm a man who knows what I want, Sakura. I am a very successful businessman, so you do not have to worry about having to toil needlessly. When you are my wife you will finally be able to shed your burakumen status and focus your energies on running our household and raising our children. I was thrilled to hear that you would like a large family. There is nothing I'd like better than to make many beautiful babies with you. _

_As a gift to show my sincerity, I have paid the finest seamstress in Fire Country to create your bridal trousseau. If time permits, perhaps when we meet, you could also show me your appreciation personally? I was pleased to hear that, even though you were a ninja, you saved your chastity for your husband. I look forward to our first get-together with great anticipation, my beautiful Sakura._

_Until then,_

_Uzumi Hito_

"That _bastard_," Sasuke snarled.

It was more than obvious what this old pervert had on his mind concerning Sakura. Unwanted images flashed through his brain of Sakura bowing to this fool and serving him hand and foot while he watched her with greedy, lust-filled eyes. A low growl emitted from Sasuke's throat and he shredded the paper to pieces.

"_Shit!" _he cursed, realizing he'd destroyed Sakura's letter. He swiftly stuffed the ruined paper down between the bed and the wall and pushed the top back onto the box.

'Maybe she won't notice,' he reasoned. 'She hadn't taken it out before, so she probably didn't even see the letter.' He lay down with his chin on his paws.

That still left the problem—what to do about this perverted, old creep that wanted to chain Sakura to his bed. His ear flicked in irritation. Surely Sakura didn't want any of this.

"For god's sake, she morphs into a fucking _cat_ once a month. How could she even _think_ of accepting this offer?" he sneered. It was ludicrous.

'And why do I even care?' he thought. Sakura wasn't stupid. It was obvious that she wouldn't do something like marry this loser—she wouldn't dare.

Sasuke curled up and wrapped his tail around himself. He closed his eyes and images of Sakura, naked, innocent, submitting her body to a lecherous, old fool made him curse darkly. As the hair crept up on his back, he resolved to do something to stop this omiai.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Sakura switched off the microscope and jotted down her observations. At last, with help from the samples of blood Sasuke had given her, she thought she might have an idea to impede Itachi's illness. She hummed sleepily while she locked her lab and slowly walked home. She was looking forward to a good night's rest. She was curious to hear how her captives' first new moon transformations would progress, but she had complete faith in Tsunade's ability to handle things in the Uchiha district tonight.

Everything was quiet when she opened her front door. Kakashi, Sai, and Itachi were out on a mission, but she thought that Sasuke might show up at the door, demanding food or to know where she'd been or why she was late.

'Maybe he's hiding,' she thought and then stopped. 'No. He's probably mad at me, or even _more_ likely, he just doesn't care at all.' She shrugged and dismissed the notion. Sasuke could take care of himself and so could she.

Feeling familiar with her territory, Sakura didn't bother to turn on the lights. She went straight to her room, where the first thing she saw was that humongous box laying on the end of her bed.

'Ugh,' she thought. 'One more unpleasant thing to deal with. I think I'd rather spend a week listening to Hidan complain than go to omiai with that merchant.'

She changed into shorts and a tank top and crawled into bed, shoving the box none-too-gently onto the floor. She never noticed the cat sleeping in the corner of her bed, on the other side of her pile of pillows.

The first gray light of dawn was coming through the window when Sakura heard the soft sounds of someone quietly entering her apartment. It was too tempting to stay cuddled in the soothing warmth surrounding her, so she sent out tiny tendrils of chakra to confirm the chakra signatures of the three men in her living room.

'They must be back from their mission,' she thought sleepily, snuggling into the solid warmth and drifting back into sleep.

Sometime later, Sakura woke with a start. Her eyes popped open.

Sai was sitting on the only chair in her room, staring at her with his head tilted in curiosity.

"Sai, what are you doing?" she hissed.

"I was just wondering, Hag. If you sleep with a traitor, does that make you a traitor, too?"

"What the hell are you talking ab—"

Suddenly, the heat surrounding her shifted and a very male grunt made her freeze in place. The delicious shivers of warmth she felt before manifested themselves in the person breathing on her neck.

"_Sasuke-kun!"_

In the space between heartbeats, he was awake, crouching protectively over her with his Sharingan activated. Wide-eyed, she could only stare at his dangerously beautiful face—his wild looking, midnight-black hair spiking all over and tousled from sleep.

Sai's eyebrow rose. "Impressive, Traitor. Am I to assume you're protecting her chastity now or has that flower already been plucked?"

"Sai!" Sakura gasped, her face blushing brightly. Sasuke sat up with growl and climbed over Sakura to get off the bed.

"Where's Kakashi?"

"What? Not even a good morning kiss, Traitor? I'm hurt."

"_Sai, shut up!"_ Sakura jumped out of bed, straightening her rumpled clothes and avoiding eye contact with the man she'd been snuggling up with. "Why are you in my room?"

"The clan killer seems to be having difficulty breathing. I thought you might want to know."

"Itachi?" She pushed Sasuke out of her way and rushed to the other room. She immediately saw that Sai was right. Kneeling down, she put her glowing hands on his chest. She cursed at what she discovered.

"Damn it, Itachi! Why didn't you tell me you were having problems?"

He sighed in relief from the easing in his lungs as her chakra sank into him. "It wasn't that bad," he protested, stealing a glance at his younger brother.

"_Stupid men_," she muttered under her breath. "You're always half dead before you ever bother to ask for help. That's why so many of you die in the first place."

Glancing around, Sakura suddenly noticed that all four men were staring at her. She frowned.

"Kakashi," she barked, "put Itachi in my room. Sai, go to my office and collect my medical bag. Sasuke, go…go make breakfast for everyone." She met his dark gaze steadily and let out the breath she didn't know she was holding when he finally nodded once and turned toward the kitchen.

Hours later, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Sai sat silently across from each other in the living room. Even with the door closed, they could hear most everything going on in Sakura's room—Itachi's hacking cough, vomiting, and his deep, pained groans as Sakura worked on him. Sasuke only asked Kakashi once.

"What happened?"

The copy-nin shrugged. "I don't know. He just…collapsed. Luckily, we were already on our way back here."

Sasuke frowned and glanced over at the other man sitting with them. Sketchpad in hand, he was idly drawing pictures of random objects. When the pale young man looked up, he gave Sasuke an eerie smile. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him.

"Isn't it funny, Traitor? Only ten a.m. and the hag's already had both Uchiha brothers in her bed."

Kakashi stood, blocking Sasuke from attacking the emotionless boy taunting him. He shook his head at his old student before turning to the ex-black ops.

"Sai, report to the Uchiha district for the rest of the day."

Sai looked between the copy-nin and the brooding Uchiha with a curious stare. He put away his sketch pad and left without another word.

"Ignore him."

"_Tch_," Sasuke scoffed and crossed his arms.

"He has a rather strange sense of humor. Naruto is easily riled by it."

'No surprise there,' Sasuke smirked.

"Sai was raised by Danzo as one of his special forces. That right there is chilling enough before you factor in that Danzo forced his young, adopted orphans to kill their brothers as a trial to become a black op ninja."

"If he's Danzo's man then how come he's helping you?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Naruto has an odd way of changing people. Actually, Sai is a lot nicer now than he was when he first joined our team."

Sasuke raised one eyebrow. This was being _nicer_? He didn't even want to know how that asshole behaved before. One thing he did wonder about was Sai having to kill his own brother in cold blood. Before the massacre, Sasuke would have gladly given his life to protect his brother. If they'd been forced to fight to the death, there would have been no surprise as to the outcome.

But now…

'Did I just miss my chance to kill Itachi?' he wondered. Watching his brother lying there in a weakened state, Sasuke hadn't felt the slightest inkling to finish him off. That was a first—for years he'd carried this rage and with it the conviction to kill Itachi whenever he saw him. He'd just had his best chance and let it slip right by—in fact, he'd wanted Sakura to help his aniki.

'Wait,' he thought, shaking his head in disbelief, 'that's not right. It's not that I didn't want him to die. I just have to be the one to do it,' he told himself. What kind of satisfaction would there be killing a wounded animal? No, that wouldn't bring him any peace at all. Killing his brother when he was injured would be a hollow victory.

But why was Itachi sick? Sakura had chastised him so easily, as if she'd done it many times. Was this a regular occurrence? Something told him it might be.

0o0o0

0o0o0

In the early hours of the morning, two men were startled from a peaceful sleep when their teammate let out a strangled cry.

"I _found_ him!"

"_Wha_—!?" A head jerked up sleepily. "Found who?"Juugo looked around him at the silent forest. "It's still dark."

"No one," the sharp-toothed young man answered, rolling over and pulling his blanket back over his head. "Go back to sleep. She's dreaming."

"Screw you, Suigetsu!" Karin ripped the blanket off the shivering boy and tossed it aside. "I'd know my Sasuke-kun's chakra signature _anywhere_."

"You think she means it this time?" Juugo asked. The white-haired boy rubbed the sleep from his eyes and shrugged before emitting a jaw-cracking yawn.

"Just hang on, my dearest Sasuke-kun," Karin crooned to the stars. "I'll find you and take care of you and kiss all your hurts away."

"Ew." Suigetsu made a face and elbowed Juugo. "If she does that, he might run away from us forever."

"Shut up, Suigetsu! He didn't run away." Karin crossed her arms and huffed.

"Ran off with his l-o-v-e-r," he taunted, tossing a log on the fire and massaging his arms to ward off the chill.

"That bitch kidnapped him!" Karin insisted, stomping her foot.

"That little slip of a girl kidnapped an Uchiha?" Suigetsu chuckled, shaking his head. "Ho, you're mental."

"That pink-haired girl did do pretty well against you in the fight," Juugo reminded him.

"It wasn't _the girl_. It was the damn _sword_ that beat me! Which I will take away before I punish my little Pinky-chan," Suigetsu began muttering curses while he took something out of his pocket.

"What's that?"

The white-haired nin held the round object up in the dim firelight and the others gathered around.

"A ring?" Karin eyed him suspiciously. "What's it for?"

"To summon the Akatsuki. That woman told me to put it on when we figured out where Sasuke was—_hey!"_

Karin snatched the ring and shoved it down her top.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, woman?"

"You can't put that on. They might do something to my Sasuke-kun!"

"Better him than me." Suigetsu's arm turned to water and splashed into her front. His hand went down her shirt and retrieved the ring. "Yuck!" he sneered. "Don't ever make me do that again, bitch! It's a good thing your chest is flat, because touching your titties might have traumatized me."

"You _pig_!" Karin snatched the ring again and threw it as hard as she could. A single, faint glimmer of gold was all they saw before it disappeared into the darkness forever.

"You _idiot_! Do you know what those thugs will do to us when they find us again?!"

"What they'll do to _you_! My Sasuke-kun will protect _me_. They won't be able to touch him."

"You deluded bitch!" Suigetsu wanted to strangle the wench but Juugo stepped between them to stop him.

"Maybe we should just try to find Sasuke first. Then he can help us come up with a plan to avoid the Akatsuki," he suggested gently.

Karin was already gleefully rolling up her bedroll, twittering happily about meeting up with her long lost love. Suigetsu refrained from throwing a fiery log at her head and made ready to break camp.

"She better be right this time because if she isn't, the blue witch's gonna kill us _all_."

0o0o0

0o0o0

0o0o0

Things you probably already know:

Ebi Senbei-Shrimp flavored rice crackers.

Burakumin- an _extremely_, undesirable profession, having to do with blood or death. Normally, when making an omiai, these types of professions can be the kiss of death—_literally_, for one marrying into the merchant class. Calling someone a burakumin is actually a huge insult.

Please don't alert and favorite my stories without leaving the occasional review.

For those of you who did review, this chapter was updated early, just for you! Thanks for all your support!

K&K


	31. Chapter 31 Awareness

Thanks a million Sakura's Unicorn for all your help. You know I need it! You too, Scarlett, thanks for helping! Our Wednesday girls are so awesome!

0o0o0

0o0o0

Cat-o-Nine Tails

Chapter 31—Awareness

0o0o0

0o0o0

The silence stretched and the minutes rolled into hours as half a dozen ninja sat, contemplating the possibility of breaking Yamato's prison barrier jutsu and overpowering the Sannin who held them prisoner within the walls of Uchiha Fugaku's ancestral home.

They watched the woman sitting quietly at the table, sipping from a cup of what looked suspiciously like sake, yet never once did her hand become unsteady, nor did she act a drunken sot in their presence.

Finally, one of them could take it no longer.

"Bunch of fucking pussies," Hidan cursed, rising from his spot in the corner. "Six goddamn S-class ninja can't just kick this goddamn bitch aside? What's become of my fucking profession?" He stormed off into the bathroom and tried to slam the sliding door. Failing miserably, he cursed and left it partway open. Finishing his business with foul-mouthed praise to his dark lord, Hidan stepped to the sink to wash his hands and flipped when he looked in the mirror. He came running out of the bathroom.

"Motherfucking balls of Jashin! That bitch branded us! Did you see this fucker right here?!" he screamed six inches from Kakuzu's face until, finally, his partner opened his eyes halfway to look at the irksome disturbance spraying spittle on him.

"Are you stupid?" he said simply.

"Stupid? Me? Because of _you_, I'm branded like a motherfucking cow!"

"We all are, dipshit."

"What?!" He turned to glare at Deidara.

"It took you _this_ long to notice?" Kakuzu scoffed behind him. "Baka. You sat here for the last two hours, staring at us, and didn't notice that we _all_ have the same fucking tattoo on our necks? What, did you think you were special?"

"He's _special_ all right," Deidara snickered.

"Oi, motherfucker, come here and say that!"

Deidara pushed his sleeves up and stood, growling. "With pleasure, you dumbass."

Hidan began making hand signs, grinning like a madman.

Deidara stepped up and punched him in the face. "Our jutsu don't work, you idiot."

Hidan stepped back for a second; a slow sadistic grin grew on his face and blood dripped from his lip. "You think that hurt? I'll show you pain, you little bastard. I don't need jutsu to make a sacrifice to Jashin-sama. Come here!"

Just as the fight broke out, a huge, blue hulk hunkered down next to the Hokage and snagged her sake bottle.

"You gonna do something about that?" He indicated the brawl with his head while tipping the bottle back to take a swig. He gasped when she punched his solar plexus with a chakra covered fist, smoothly caught the bottle he dropped when he flew backwards into the wall, and calmly poured another cup for herself.

"Nope." She breathed in the piquant aroma of aged sake, sighing. "They can kill each other for all I care."

Teeth glittering dangerously, Kisame eased himself out of the ruined wall, rubbing the throbbing ache in his stomach. "Baby, you're a woman after my own heart."

Tsunade scoffed. "Perhaps I'll be the one to remove it from your chest for you."

Kisame ducked as a chair flew dangerously close over his head. Reaching up, he caught it before it could hit Tsunade. She gazed at him flatly, unimpressed.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking I can't take care of myself."

He grinned at her sharply. "Just trying to prove that chivalry ain't dead, babe."

She rolled her eyes at him and took another drink. "If you want to impress me, keep these goons from trashing the place."

"My pleasure, beautiful." Kisame rose, cracking his knuckles as he went to subdue his boisterous prison mates.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Sakura stood under the hot spray, sighing as the tension slowly eased from her muscles.

It had taken hours, but Itachi was completely stable—for the moment, anyway. Kakashi had helped her get him changed and onto the couch, then she put her bedding in the wash before taking this time for herself.

Sakura wasn't sure why Itachi's illness had escalated so quickly this time. She could only guess it had something to do with his body changing with the phase of the moon. She knew for a fact that, in his cat form, the progress of his disease slowed. The changeover must've been too much for him. She'd have to monitor him carefully next month and help make the transition easier.

Of course, if she could find a cure for him before then, the problem would be solved and she wouldn't have to feel so indebted to Sasuke's brother for saving her when she was burned at the Akatsuki base.

Now, she only had to figure out how to pose a request to Sasuke to let her experiment with samples of his DNA to help save his brother's life—the man who'd killed his entire family.

She groaned and smacked her forehead against the wet tiles in front of her. "How can I ask him?" she asked the wall. "It would probably be easier to steal his samples, although that's not very ethical." Sakura huffed, annoyed. "Damn moral code!"

Filling her palm with shampoo, she massaged it into her hair, thinking of how to broach the subject with him.

"Sasuke, you would save a life if given the chance, ne?"

She rolled her eyes. "That won't work. Sasuke won't _save_ Itachi's life. He wants justice." She rinsed the soap from her hair.

"Sasuke, we need to find justice for _both_ of you and we can't do that if one of you is dead."

'Nah,' she thought, 'too dramatic.' She dropped her face into her palm in misery. Then she had another idea—the dumbest one of all.

"Sasuke-kun, _please_," she plead, clasping her hands together, beseeching the shower head, which was just about his height. "There's very little time to find a cure. We used to be friends; you'll do it for _me_, right?"

She laughed out loud, forgetting the other people in her apartment and just how thin the walls were.

0o0o0

Sasuke sat on the couch, watching his brother sleep. When he heard Sakura arguing with herself in the bathroom, he looked at his old sensei, who, he noted, had dropped his book to eavesdrop, too. They could hear Sakura talking, but not much of what she said.

He was curious. Was she trying to argue out the points of Itachi's illness? If so, he would have liked to hear her reasoning. Or was she arguing with herself over some imagined wrong? She was always oversensitive as a young girl. He wondered if she'd changed that habit. He sighed at the sound of her muffled voice. It appeared she hadn't. Either way, he couldn't listen in closely with the Copy-nin around. Kakashi would know what he was doing.

And why did he care? He couldn't even answer that question for sure. That cat form had weakened his resolve somehow. And neko-baachan had scolded him to wait and hear the whole story. The problem was _getting_ the whole story.

He cursed under his breath.

Kakashi looked over at him and laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. Then he wisely put his book up higher, breaking eye contact with his former student. Sasuke caught the sound of Sakura laughing then, but for some reason, her laughter didn't sound happy.

Teacher and student looked at each other again, Kakashi's eye squinting as he smiled and slid his book up again to his face.

'Idiot,' Sasuke thought and laid his head on the back of the couch, closing his eyes.

0o0o0

Sakura rubbed the towel through her hair and wiped the steam from the mirror. She saw a girl with messy, pink hair and dark circles under her eyes.

"No wonder Sai calls me hag," she grumbled jokingly, running a comb through her hair.

Sakura tossed the towel in the linen basket and tightened the belt on her robe. At least the hot shower made her feel better—more ready to tackle her problem. She smiled at herself in the mirror determinedly. No matter what, she would find answers, she assured herself.

She peeked out the bathroom door and saw Itachi and Sasuke sleeping while Kakashi sat, hands to his lips, giggling over some dirty scene in his book. Stifling a chuckle at Sensei's antics, she went to her room to change. She was walking over to her dresser when she accidently kicked the enormous box from her mother that was lying next to her bad. The top fell partway off and she could see the gorgeous, heavy silk fabric of the gown. She didn't intend to, but it piqued her curiosity, so she set the box on her bed, opening it to get a better look.

The dress inside was like something she's only seen in fancy pictures. She never thought she'd have one of her own.

'Never thought I'd have a need for it really,' she thought sadly. 'My girlish fantasies of a happily-ever-after kind of life ended years ago. Still,' she considered, touching the lovely fabric, 'I wonder what it looks like.'

There was a fancy, gold and bejeweled dagger lying on top of the dress. Lifting the ceremonial knife from atop the gown, Sakura pulled the four inch blade from its sheath. As she held it up, the mirror-like gold metal reflected her serious, green eyes.

She shook her head. 'Why anyone would think it a wise custom to give a maid a knife before her marriage ceremony? Some women might use it just to escape an unwanted fate. How ridiculous that terrifying a woman enough to consider suicide could be called honorable.'

'Maybe it has another meaning,' her Inner mused. 'Maybe it's meant to use on the groom.'

Smiling, she sheathed the blade, pulled its chain over her head, and laid the knife to rest between her breasts. Then she slipped out of her robe and into the white, under-kimono.

Next, Sakura pulled out the beautiful dress. It was heavy. She ran her fingers over the silk embroidery with the tiny pearls sewn into it. It certainly wasn't a traditional-style wedding dress. She'd never tried on such a kimono before—never had the occasion to dress in a gown so grand. Using the pair of gleaming, gold sticks from the box, she pinned up her rose-colored hair into a loose bun, leaving damp tendrils to escape and frame her face.

Sliding her hands into the heavy fabric was an extravagance that, as a ninja, she'd never expected to experience. The smooth, luxurious feel of expensive silk washed over her skin soothingly. She looked in the mirror at her reflection and didn't recognize the woman there. Instead, she looked like an elegant lady of a high court or some such foolishness. Still, her rarely indulged, girlish side thrilled at dressing like a princess and she twirled once before the glass. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine standing at the altar next to the man of her dreams. But all that stood next to her was an empty space.

"Damn it," Sasuke's deep voice barked from behind, startling her. "Where did you get that?"

0o0o0

Sasuke's eyes snapped open when the dryer buzzed, signaling the sheets inside were dry. He glanced over to see Itachi still sleeping. He looked at Kakashi next.

The Jounin was engrossed in his dirty book. When Sasuke cleared his throat, Kakashi tilted his head slightly back toward the laundry then he looked longingly at his book and pleadingly back at his old student.

Sasuke sighed at Kakashi's theatrics and got up to take the laundry from the dryer. The light was on under the bathroom door, so he only knocked once before entering her bedroom.

When he opened the door, Sakura stood in front of her mirror with her eyes closed, a vision of loveliness in the beautiful kimono her mother had tried to force on him a few weeks ago. His temper flared.

0o0o0

"Sasuke-kun?!" She turned swiftly to see him standing there, glaring at her. "You can't just come barging in—"

"Why do you have _that_ _dress_ on?" he demanded, frowning.

"The kimono?" She blushed and looked down at the gown. "Oh. Of course, I, ah, my mother had it made…"

'Why is he scowling?' She watched his dark eyes examining her. 'Why does he not look the least bit surprised?' she thought in amazement. 'Why did he say _that dress_ as if he's seen it before and knows exactly what it is?'

Suddenly, the missing clues dropped into place. She remembered sneaking out to find food when she was a cat and Sasuke disguising himself as her in order to search the village. And then he'd acted sort of curious when Ino burst into her lab, blabbing about her mother being on the marriage warpath again. It wasn't like him to take an interest in what was happening in her life.

'No,' she thought, shaking her head. 'He couldn't, he _wouldn't_…'

"Sasuke-kun…"

"Take that stupid thing off," he replied coldly. "You're not getting married."

She flinched and the color drained from her cheeks. "You did! It was _you_."

His defiant stare was confirmation.

"What did you say to her? Why did you—Sasuke, do you hate me _that_ much?"

Sasuke threw the pile of sheets onto the bed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"My mother."

He crossed his arms and stared at her. "I was helping you."

Her eyes flashed angrily. "Making my mother despise me was a _favor_?"

"_You_ were on a mission." He looked her up and down in the striking dress. "It was obvious she'd arranged the omiai on her own."

Sakura dropped her eyes when she felt the sting of tears. "And what if I did it?" she asked softly, staring at the ground, refusing to look at him.

He scoffed.

"You don't think I can find someone who cares for me?" She smiled in self-derision and slowly shook her head. "No…it's not that." Unconsciously, she fingered the knife hanging from the chain at her neck. "You don't think I _deserve_ to be loved. Never good enough, am I Sasuke?"

"He thinks of you as his trophy."

"Really? A _trophy_?" She laughed bitterly. "And I'm certainly no prize, am I?"

He frowned. "That's not what I meant."

"Shut up."

"Sakura—"

"Sasuke, _leave_."

"_Tch._ You're annoying."

She drew the knife from the chain around her neck and flung it at him, but he was already out of her room. She stormed over and slammed her door, pushing a chair in front of it to keep him out. Sakura ripped the fine chain from her neck, threw it, and flung herself on the bed, not caring if she snagged or wrinkled the heavy silk gown.

Now she knew why her mother was so insulted. Sasuke rarely came off as polite in the best instances and he'd probably been rude as hell to her poor kaasan. So rude, that her beloved and completely incensed mother had given Sakura an ultimatum—marry a complete stranger or be disowned from her only family. She grabbed her pillow and screamed into it until she was out of breath.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Black-lacquered nails picked up the ring from the damp ground. Konan pursed her lips and walked back to where her leader waited just off the forest trail.

"They think it's so easy to escape us?" Pein looked at her steadily.

"It matters not, Pein-sama. There's only one village near here big enough to hide the members of our organization if they were taken prisoner. I think if we check there, we will not only find our hunting group, but we will find our missing members, too."

Pein's eyebrow rose in question and Konan nodded.

_Konahagakure. _

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Ja ne!

R&R

K&K


	32. Chapter 32 Breaking the Status Quo

DNON

Hey there, guys! Hope you're all making it through the cold snap. Me, I'm trying to hibernate but peoples keep making me leave the house to work. Enjoy the chapter. The next is already partway done, but I'd like to hear what you think of the story so far so drop me a line. I wanna say thanks to Sakura's Unicorn for getting after me to finish the chapter and then editing it so nicely. I also want to thank -raining ripples- for making some lovely Sakura and Sasuke kitty fanart for my story! I love it! You can view it through my DA account.

Oh, yeah..Nii-tan..this chapter is dedicated to you. For keeping me company while I was writing it.

See ya!

K&K

Cat-O-Nine Tails

Chapter 32—Breaking the Status Quo

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"_Kakuzu!"_

Sai could hear the Akatsuki prisoner's pathetic whine from the edge of the Uchiha district. Collecting the last of his ink mice from patrol, Sai ambled toward the screeching yowl.

"Kakuzu, it's not fair!"

"Shut the hell up."

"But it's not fair! Why do I have to change back into a cat first?"

The lavender-eyed gray cat clung to Kakuzu's knee, stubbornly trying to climb up his leg while the ninja held him off with one hand. "Stay down, you idiot."

"But _Ka-ku-zu_!" Hidan whined loudly

"Perhaps the rate of change has something to do with intelligence?" Sai suggested, expressionlessly, walking toward the group of Akatsuki gathered outside Sasuke's family home. The air of expectancy was thick as the ninja turned away from the Hokage and arguing duo to regard him. Sai's interruption distracted them only momentarily.

"Yeah, you panty-waist assholes. I'm better than you all," Hidan crowed. "I changed back to a cat first cause _I'm_ _more dangerous_."

Kakuzu scoffed, shaking the annoying gray lump from his leg.

"He means you changed first because of your _lower_ intelligence, dumbass!" Deidara snorted and, in a flash, Hidan flew at him, claws out, knocking the blond backwards as the two tumbled. By the time they got back to their feet, Deidara was also a cat.

"Well, doll-face," Kisame leaned one arm against the post where Tsunade was standing, silently watching the masked ninja staring at her from twenty feet away. "Maybe on our next date you'll share a little of your sweet nectar."

"Tch," she scoffed, watching Kisame transform rapidly. "I'm not drinking with you, you big, blue oaf."

"I was referring to the nectar from your honeyed lips, sweetheart." The big blue cat wrapped around her ankles purred.

"Kami-sama save us all." She rolled her eyes and stepped off the porch, walking toward the last two ninja yet to change back into cats.

Sasori's eyes followed her carefully as she approached. Madara asked him to test the spell as they changed back to see if it was possible to break either the curse or the collars, but as the change came over him, the world around him reeled, and, in that moment, his desire to break the curse was replaced with another desire—the desire to go watch the fish wriggling around in the koi pond.

Senju Tsunade's eyes were slightly glazed from alcohol, but Tobi knew that, despite spending the day drinking, she wasn't drunk and he wasn't about to tip his hand to this bitch who'd helped that child and Neko-baa capture him. This bitch deserved to die…but he couldn't kill her, not yet. Not until that hex was broken.

'It doesn't matter,' he thought. 'I've lived this long—what's a few more months? But there's no way she'll hold me for three years. First, I'll capture that damn apprentice then I'll kill Neko-baa after she removes the spell. Then, Senju, you'll pay with your life after I make you watch while I kill every soul in this village.'

"Oh yes," he grumbled murderously under his breath. "You'll pay."

Then, in an instant, he too lost his train of thought.

Tsunade glared at the orange and black marbled cat looking up and her and bared her teeth.

"Scat!"

0o0o0

0o0o0

When Sasuke stormed out of Sakura's bedroom and into the living room, Kakashi was gone. He glanced over to see Itachi was no longer lying on the couch asleep. Thinking Kakashi and his brother left, he cursed and kicked the sofa…before he heard the sound of someone in the kitchen.

"Kakashi had to leave suddenly." Itachi came out, holding a cup of tea with an amused look on his face. "He probably didn't want to get into the middle of a jealous lovers' quarrel.

"Jealous…" Sasuke scoffed. "Who's jealous?" Seeing the smirk on his brother's face, he growled. "We're _not_ lovers."

Itachi hid his widening smirk by taking a sip of his tea and clearing his throat. "I may have been in pain when I came back today, but I was lucid enough to hear Sai tell Kakashi that you two we're cozied up in bed together, little brother."

Sasuke's jaw dropped, but before he could protest, Itachi went on.

"And don't try to tell me that you did not just forbid Sakura from marrying another man." Itachi raised one eyebrow. "I heard every word." He set down his cup and crossed his arms. "But if you're trying to persuade her from marrying another, you're going about it the wrong way."

"You are fucking nuts if you think that I—"

"I saw the look on your face this morning when you looked at her, little brother. You. Care."

Sasuke scowled. "She's an old teammate, _nothing_ more. She's going to screw up—"

"Go apologize."

Sasuke sighed and pushed past his brother, opening a random cupboard, ignoring him and looking for food.

"It's also obvious that she cares for you." Itachi spoke without turning around. "She left the safety of her village to go on an impossible mission to help you."

Sasuke slammed the cupboard and turned to argue but his brother was gone…and the door to Sakura's room had just closed.

0o0o0

Itachi pushed aside the chair the girl hastily shoved in front of her door to block anyone from entering and crossed into Sakura's bedroom.

His younger brother's teammate lay on her bed, engulfed in an embroidered silk kimono. She looked like a porcelain doll that some child had thrown aside carelessly—her messy, rose-colored hair falling out of the golden pins holding it up and dress askew.

"Go away, Sasuke-kun," Sakura grumbled, her face not leaving the pillow.

"Sasuke is sulking in the kitchen," Itachi replied.

Her shoulders jumped and Sakura sat up on the bed and looked at him, irritated. "You're supposed to be resting Itachi-san."

"Not an easy task when you two are fighting in the next room."

Sakura blushed brightly looking down. "Gomen nasai." She reached up and pulled the pins sliding from her hair. Itachi set the cup of tea in her hands and she sighed, taking a sip.

"Lovers' quarrel, Sukoshi?" He asked, deftly sidestepping the spray when she spit out the drink.

Wide-eyed and sputtering, Sakura looked up at the elder Uchiha brother. "N-no!"

Itachi glanced up and down at her wedding dress.

"Hn." The tiniest lift of the corner of Itachi's mouth had her blushing furiously and rising.

"Nothing happened!" She waved at her gown. "This has nothing to do with him!" She waved toward the door, indicating Sasuke.

His too-patient stare had her clenching her fist.

"If I hadn't just spent the morning healing you, I would punch you through that wall."

Itachi smirked.

0o0o0

Days later, Sakura still hadn't spoken a word about the incident to Sasuke or Itachi. Tsunade had ordered them back to the Uchiha district as soon as they changed back into cats and Itachi and Sasuke still stubbornly still slept in Sasuke's old room with her, but now the silence between the three stretched from night all through the day.

Finally, she could keep her silence no longer. She woke up to hear raspiness in Itachi's breathing. When she called his name, Sasuke's head came up from where he lay on the window ledge. He jumped off and stalked out of the room without a word. Sakura sighed, closing the door after him and locking it before she sat back down to examine Itachi.

"Seems my otouto misses your attention," he observed calmly.

Sakura scoffed. Beginning to heal the damage she found.

"Don't believe me, Sukoshi?" Itachi chuckled. "I know my brother. He doesn't like to share things he believes are his."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "No worries there. Sasuke isn't concerned about me at all, Itachi-san."

"Tell me about this other man."

Sakura ignored him, getting up. "Ok, I'm finished for today. I'll check you again tomorrow."

Itachi flicked his ear. "You know, ignoring the problem won't make it go away."

She frowned. "I seriously doubt you can understand my troubles, Itachi-san. Please don't worry about it." Sakura walked out of her room and was immediately accosted by Deidara demanding her attention.

0o0o0

Sasuke wandered into the backyard to find Deidara lying on his back in Sakura's lap while she brushed knots from his long coat. The fur on the back of his neck stood up when she laughed at some stupid thing the orange and white cat said.

Sasuke scoffed as he walked past which drew Sakura's eye to him. In the bright sunlight, she noticed his fur was even worse than Deidara's—dirty and neglected, like something was wrong. She thought she knew what that was. She opened her mouth to speak and Deidara interrupted her.

"Sakura-chan!" His six-toed paw landed on her nose bringing her out of her reverie. "Me first, unya!" He followed her gaze following Sasuke. "Nya, you always pay attention to him. I'm not done yet! You forgot my tail, hm!"

"Later, Deidara-kun, I promise. Right now, I need to talk to Sasuke." She picked the cat up out of her lap and set him down, disregarding his protests.

She caught up with Sasuke just as he was jumping into a tree to lose her. She caught him mid-leap, ignoring his warning growl. Hanging onto him, she made hand signs for a transportation jutsu.

Sasuke looked around the sterile lab and flattened his ears. "What are we doing here?"

"I know that odd seal is bothering you. I can see it in the way you're walking. Why didn't you tell me?"

Sasuke sniffed and looked away.

"I learned how to get rid of it," she informed him. "I'll make you a deal. You give me what I want and I'll remove that seal right now."

Sasuke looked at her suspiciously. "What do you want?"

"Bone marrow…and no questions asked. Deal?"

"Wh—" His mouth snapped shut and he glared at her. She could tell he was curious, but it was plain as day he was also in immense pain. Kakashi's fuinjutsu wasn't working. Whoever was looking for him had activated that seal on his back and it was extremely painful. She was surprised he could walk at all. Sakura crossed her arms obstinately to wait him out and he finally sighed tiredly. "Fine."

"Thank you." She walked over to a drawer and removed a hospital gown from it, throwing it at him. "Put this on. It opens in the back."

"I thought I only needed to take off my shirt. What's this?"

"I'm taking the marrow from your pelvic bone. It's the best place for a sample. Now hurry up," she snapped, preparing a table to work from. "And I said no questions."

0o0o0

Suigetsu sat his great sword in the shade of a tall oak and took another sip of water.

"Mah! I'm sick of this bullshit!" He stretched out his long legs and leaned back against the tree. "If Sasuke wanted us to find him, he would have found us already." He sneered. "I gotta babysit a fuckin' monster who plays with birds and chipmunks, meanwhile Sasuke's nailing that chick," he grumbled to himself. "Uchiha's getting a sweet, little piece of pink tail and I gotta haul around an ugly, annoying, red-headed bi—"

Half a dozen paper shurikens flew out of nowhere, lodging themselves in the wet tree behind him—where his stomach had been moments before.

"What the fu—"

The tree behind him collapsed in on itself and he was engulfed in a flurry of paper. He tried to disintegrate into his liquid form, but the paper wrapped tightly around him. Above, the tree transformed into the blue-haired Akatsuki ninja.

"You lost something." Konan tossed the silver ring onto his chest.

"It wasn't me!" Suigetsu whined. "It was Karin. She stole it from me and threw it out into the forest to protect Uchiha."

"You ran away."

"I came to search for the Uchiha! I was gonna come find you as some as I found him!"

"Likely story," Konan growled, holding a kunai to his balls.

"No, no!" he begged in a high-pitched voice. "Karin says she knows where he is! He's close! I promise! Hey, give me another chance. As soon as I see him, I'll put the ring on. "

Konan released him and he fell twelve feet to the ground. He hadn't even known she had him in the air.

"Last chance," she promised. "Next time, I castrate you."

Suigetsu covered his terrified, shriveled up privates and scrambled over to where his sword lay. "Yeah, yeah, lady. You got it, anything you say."

He looked around and she was gone.

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	33. Chapter 33 The Naked Truth

Cat-o-Nine Tails

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Hey, everyone!

Sakura's Unicorn, you are an angel!

She is the reason you have a new chapter, people. She's always reminding me to write and doing all the editing. She kicks me back into gear when I drift off.

I would appreciate knowing if you are still reading this story with a review. Not sure if anyone's still out there. I still have more story in me, I just need to know if anyone's interested in hearing it. Thanks! I hope you enjoy the chapter.

LOL, I love this one!

Handsome cats and fat dungheaps are the sign of a good farmer. ~ French proverb

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Chapter 33—The Naked Truth

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Sai was making his morning rounds through the Uchiha district when he heard an odd caterwauling coming from the hot springs. His curiosity piqued, he stepped around the building and found the gray cat there, looking a little beat up, groveling on the ground before a small cairn of stones with a stake sticking up from it.

"Perhaps if you impale yourself on that stake, your virgin sacrifice will be heard by your deity, Fuzzy."

Hidan, who was carefully piling up carcasses, accidently tipped the pile, spilling them. It'd taken him a week of blood, sweat, and tears to collect them and put them in perfect order. He'd hoped to call upon Jashin to save him from the hell he'd been trapped in.

"Jashin damn it all!" The violet-eyed cat jumped up and down in anger, whiskers twitching. "Do you see what you just made me do?!"

Sai tipped his head to the side and smiled at him impassively.

"I believe I made you take the name of your god in vain." His eyebrow rose. "Is that a sin? If it is, I don't think he's going to respond to your little sacrifice here, Fuzzy." Sai shrugged. "Perhaps you can get Stitches to help you rebuild your altar?"

Hidan whipped his tail back and forth and the smile on Sai's face widened, making him all the more angry. He turned and, with a mighty swipe of his paw, the carcasses he'd collected were littered across the way, rolling in the dirt.

"_Tsk, tsk_. You've made your sacrifice unclean. I'm sure your divinity will frown upon that." The cat winced, looking back at the now dirty shrine and the offerings he'd worked so hard to collect. He spit in disgust.

"Now, now. No use crying over spilt…bugs, Fuzzy-san." Sai whipped out his pad and pen, swiftly drawing a few mice and bringing them to life with a hand sign.

"There you go. Happy hunting."

"Like I would chase fake m—" Hidan twitched as one of the mice ran under him, its tail flicking his foot. "_Get back here, dammit!"_ He chased after it and Sai made a few more, instructing them to clean up the mess, dismantle the shrine and help keep the little altar boy busy for the rest of the afternoon.

"I wonder if the hag has this much trouble keeping the traitor in line."

0o0o0

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Sasuke grit his teeth and closed his eyes as a cold sweat broke out on his brow. He thought the pain from the seal was bad, but now he was nearly at his limit.

Sakura had offered, came close to insisting he take anesthesia while she used that enormous needle to suck the bone marrow from his hip, but he had stubbornly refused. He wasn't weak. He didn't need her mothering him. A wave of nausea hit as the needle scratched his bone, jolting him out of his reverie. He bit down on a curse, growing pale.

Behind him, Sakura had untied his gown. Although she acted perfectly professional, he couldn't help but notice the high color on her cheeks as she drew back his gown and draped his hip with sterile towels, leaving open the area where she planned on inserting the oversized needle.

Sasuke saw spots dance before his eyes when the syringe finally plunged through bone. Sakura was so focused on her job by then that she merely murmured words of quiet encouragement, telling him that she would finish as soon as she could.

He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on his kata in order to disregard the burning throb when she changed vials to collect more marrow. Sasuke was taken aback when he suddenly felt Sakura's warm hand on his hip and cool, healing chakra flooding through him.

"I told you, I don't need that," he snapped. "Just do what you have to do."

"I'm finished, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke only grunted and stared straight ahead at the wall. Sakura sighed, pulling up the sheet and opening the top of his gown to reveal the tracking seal.

She studied the seal in the middle of Sasuke's back, absently running her finger across it, remembering the steps to remove it. She was so intent that she didn't notice him shiver when her fingers brushed his skin.

"Okay, Sasuke-kun. Focus your chakra on your spine. Wrap it up and protect it. Help me force the foreign chakra out as my chakra meets yours."

He grunted at her, his whole body breaking out in pins and needles as she used the reversal method for Kakashi's fuuinjutsu.

"_Kaija hoin_!"

Kakashi's seal vanished and the pained gripped Sasuke like a vice. He groaned as Sakura made hand signs for yet another removal jutsu. She was sweating with the effort of getting every sign perfect in order to remove the tracking seal.

"_Gogyou Kain_!"

With that incantation, the signs for five elements appeared on her fingertips. She placed her fingers on the rings on Sasuke's back, three fingers covering the kanji tattooed there by Karin's jutsu. It read _cunning_, _capture_, and _chaos_.

A single curse left Sasuke as the letters on his spine began to smoke. Sakura's chakra sank through the seal, meeting his. Together they drove the oily-feeling chakra from him, the seal disappearing completely.

Both of them were left panting from the effort. The smell of charred flesh dissipated and Sakura touched Sasuke's back again, sending healing chakra into his skin.

"Enough, Sakura." Sasuke started to sit up when Sakura laid her hand on his shoulder.

"Please, I can lessen the ache," she started, knowing that she was near her limit, too. Using the complicated seals required precision. She knew he had to be in immense pain from both the seal removal and the bone marrow procedure.

He pulled her hand off and turned to face her, sitting up fully with only a slight grunt when his hip protested.

She could see the tension around his eyes and sighed. Knowing his stubborn nature, he'd refuse any help and become an intolerable grump from the pain.

"All right then." She stood up, turning around so he could put his clothes back on. "How about a hot bath? That ought to soothe the ache some, ne?"

He grunted again and she figured, at least this time, it didn't sound negative. She smiled.

"You can take one at my place and have some privacy. I'll make you dinner as a thank you." She stored her precious samples safely, so they'd be ready for her to use on Itachi as soon as she regained her normal chakra levels.

0o0o0

Sakura covered the soup and turned the burner down. She'd changed into her pajamas so she could go to bed right after dinner—her low chakra levels were exhausting. Sasuke's clothes were in the wash and he was taking a long, hot soak. Sakura was slicing a ripe, red tomato for him when she heard a knock at the door.

"Hey, Forehead! Why are you in pajamas? It's barely five o'clock. Get your party dress on! We're having a night out! It's been ages." Ino pushed past her and looked around Sakura's apartment. "Ugh." She ran a finger over a dusty shelf. "This place looks like you've abandoned it."

Sakura scoffed lightly. "I didn't abandon it and we've never had a _night out_."

"Then get dressed, so we can finally go out!"

"I'm, ah, busy."

"Busy?! _Doing what?!_ Sitting around in your robe, reading Kakashi's romance books?" She waved her hand in the air. "_Psh_, better to get out and live it while you're young, woman." Ino nudged her. "You know, have a little fun before you settle down."

"I _do_ have fun." Sakura crossed her arms, frowning. "And I'm _not_ settling down."

"Oh, yeah?" Ino smirked.

"No way." Sakura shook her head. "I've got way too much going on."

"You may be too young to get tied down," Ino purred, smiling, "but you're not too young to get a man."

Sakura sighed. "I don't want a commitment with anyone right now, Ino."

"Who's talking about _commitment_?!" Ino threw her hands up, getting louder and Sakura cringed inside. "I'm talking about s-e-x. You need to get _laid_, Forehead!"

A _splash_ came from the bathroom. Sakura pretended not to hear it.

Ino did otherwise.

"_Oh_, I get it, Forehead." She laughed, clapping her hands together excitedly. "You don't want go _out_ with someone because you already _got_ someone." She peeked around Sakura. "Who is it?"

"No, Ino! You're wrong." Sakura blocked her path and Ino pushed her roughly aside.

"Well…let's just see." She barged past Sakura and marched over to the bathroom, turning the handle before Sakura could stop her. Cursing inwardly, Sakura clutched her collar and switched Sasuke back into feline form.

There was a loud _sploosh_ and she rushed after Ino into the bathroom.

A look of distaste crossed Ino's face. "What the hell is _that_?"

Sakura's tub was small but deep. Sasuke didn't have time to get out before Sakura changed him and his claws couldn't grasp the slippery edge. She made a grab for the struggling cat and dragged him out of the water, clutching him to her chest. She could feel his little heart racing as his claws dug through her pajamas and into her skin.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun! I'm so sorry! _Ouch_! Please don't claw so hard." Suddenly remembering Ino stood right behind her, Sakura snapped her mouth shut.

'Shit, shit, shit!'

"_Sasuke-kun_? You _didn't_. Sakura, you named your cat after _Sasuke_?!" Ino asked in disbelief. "_Tch_. Your mother's right. You _do_ need a man. Maybe if you get one, you can get over your _stupid_ crush," Ino ranted, turning Sakura around to face her. "Face facts, Forehead. Sasuke is _never_ coming back here. Just get married and forget about him," Ino admonished. "You'd better change that cat's name, too. No guy's gonna want a cat around with your old crush's name."

The pink-haired girl hung her head, still clutching Sasuke to her chest, both of them soaked through. Her mind was reeling, trying to think of an excuse to give Ino, but it came up blank. She couldn't look at Ino and she definitely could not look at Sasuke.

She was stuck.

Ino put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Look, I know you still love him, Sak, but you've got to get over that jerk."

Sasuke felt Sakura jolt at Ino's last words. A short, harsh bark of laughter escaped her. "Just get out, Ino."

"No," the blonde insisted, flipping her hair back. "I'm not leaving you here like this. Gosh, Forehead, you're pathetic. I'm gonna stay here and help you figure out what guy you wanna marry so your mom doesn't stick you with some old fuddy-duddy."

"Get out."

Ino ignored her. "Dry off, Forehead. I'm gonna fix all your problems. I'll go get you some clothes." She threw a towel at Sakura's head and left the bathroom.

Sakura set Sasuke gently down on the sink and dried his fur. She heard Ino rummaging around in her room.

"Kami-sama, Forehead! Why are all your clothes so damn _dowdy_? If you want guys to notice you, you need to dress sexy. My grandmother has sexier clothes than this. Hey, where's that dress I got you for your birthday?"

Sakura rubbed the towel gently across Sasuke's fur. "Could you please pretend you didn't hear any of that?" she asked softly.

Ino appeared at the door. "Get your wet stuff off." She shoved a dress at her. "I'll start making a list of eligible men." She shut the door on them. Sakura looked at Sasuke and the clothes in her hand.

"Just, er, turn around," she whispered.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and turned around at the sink.

Sasuke watched the wall until a movement in the mirror caught his eye. He looked up just in time to see Sakura put on the dress that Ino gave her, averting his eyes when she turned back.

Sakura's eyes went wide as they connected with Sasuke's in the mirror for a split second. 'If I can see him, then he saw me...in my underwear!' Her earlier embarrassment of him hearing about her crush was forgotten as her temper flared. "You _didn't_!" she yelled.

"Didn't what?" Ino called from the living room.

Sasuke watched as Sakura blushed three different shades of pink. His tail twitched saucily.

'Serves her right, half drowning me,' he thought, flicking water from his ear.

Sakura had to restrain herself from clubbing him. He jumped down, shook his fur out and waited patiently for her to open the door. Sakura let him out, barely holding herself back from kicking his fluffy tail-end. He went into her room and jumped up onto the sunny patch on her bed. Sakura dragged the wet towels into her laundry closet and threw Sasuke's clothes in the dryer.

"Now to deal with Ino," she murmured, stalking back to her room only to be shocked when she found her best friend digging through her underwear in front of Sasuke.

"Forehead, you can't wear a bra with that dress, the straps will show. Here," she handed her the fancy underwear she'd given Sakura for Christmas. "You haven't even worn these. The tag's still on them." She scowled, holding out the g-string she found buried at the bottom of the drawer.

"Fine." Red-faced, Sakura snatched the tiny panties from her, praying that Sasuke was ignoring them. "Dry the cat off before he soaks my bed." She handed Ino a dry towel and went back into the bathroom to fix her faux pas.

Ino turned to see the long-haired, black cat lying in the middle of Sakura's bed. When she stood in front of the window and blocked the warm sunlight coming in, Sasuke opened one eye to glare at her.

Ino rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "I guess I can see why you named him Sasuke, Forehead. He does have messy hair like him." She reached out and grabbed him before he could escape and started drying him off. She picked him up and looked eye to eye. "The cat is much sweeter, though."

The cat growled softly.

"_Hmph_…much sweeter," she grumbled, poking his nose. "Guess what, kitty? I'm gonna tell you a se-cret!" she sang, giggling. "I'm gonna get Sakura drunk and _then_ I'm gonna get her a man tonight." She snickered. "Once she gets laid, she'll forget all about that stupid guy _you're_ named after." Ino made a face. "Ugh, then she can name you something cute, like Smokey or Fluffy." She pinched his furry cheek.

Sasuke swatted at her face with his paw and she dropped him. He took his spot back on the bed, growling.

"Damn, Forehead. What's the matter with your stupid cat? He tried to _scratch_ me. _Tch_." She folded her arms over her bosom, glaring at him. "That furball reminds me of Sasuke more and more. What a pompous brat!"

0o0o0

0o0o0

"Sasuke-kuuuuuun!" The redhead was crooning loudly, hands pulling at her hair as if in mourning. "Nooo!"

Juugo looked questioningly at Suigetsu and back at their female teammate. "Uh…what's wrong with her? I thought she was happy about finally finding Sasuke." He flinched when she screamed Sasuke's name again. "She said we were getting close even." He scratched his head.

Suigetsu waved his hand in irritation. "He's dropped off her radar completely. Apparently, he couldn't do that before, but now he's been doing it all the time and it's driving her batty." He shrugged. "Personally, I think using her talent for stalking is kind of creepy. Sasuke's lucky to get away from her," he grumbled. "I wish we could."

"Shut it, Suigetsu!" Karin hissed. "I'm going to let the Akatsuki cut your balls off!"

"They're going to kill you first, woman! You're the one who said you could find _your Sasuke-kun_ anywhere! Well? Where the hell is he? We're nearly to the village."

Karin's bottom lip pouched out and she sniffed loudly. "That—that witch did something to him! I just know she did! I can feel my Sasuke-kun anywhere! It's not possible!" She stomped her foot.

Suigetsu sighed and started off toward the next village. Sitting around listening to Karin whine was getting them nowhere. And he had a feeling the next place might bring them answers.


	34. Chapter 34 Leaving You Behind

DNON

A/N

Hey, my peeps! I missed you!

I've been writing lots more lately thanks to my wonderful beta…who's been standing behind me with a whip, lol. So now I'm getting on track with some regular updates. Life is super busy but things will soon ease off with winter fast approaching, so I'll do my best to keep the updates coming. I had lots of fun writing this chapter and the next. It's hard to believe, but this story has well over 350,000 views already! That's so amazing! Thanks for hanging in there with me, you wonderful people, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

K&K

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Cat-o-Nine Tails by Kaze and Kiba

Chapter 39—Leaving You Behind

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0o0o0

Sakura looked at herself critically in the mirror while Ino rummaged through her closet, looking for a pair of 'decent' shoes.

'It's not _too_ bad, I guess,' she thought, pulling the red mini dress higher over her half-exposed breast. 'It is warm outside and—' Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sasuke, still damp from the tub, jump onto her bed and flick his wet tail. "Sasuke-kun!" she scolded, turning to face the wet cat. "You're going to leave a damp spot on the blank-_ET!"_

Sasuke froze mid-stride and gaped at his teammate, but not because of Sakura's scolding. Ino snuck up behind Sakura and hugged her, her hands reaching up from underneath, cupping her breasts, making Sakura screech.

"_INO_! What the hell are you doing?!"

"See, Forehead. The girls look good, right? You should go braless more often."

"Let go!" Sakura's cheeks went beet red as Sasuke continued to stare, wide eyed, when Ino jiggled her breasts. 'Oh my god! Sasuke is _watching_!' She groaned inwardly, mentally slamming her head against the wall.

"Come on! Don't be such a prude! You know you like it." Ino whispered next to Sakura's ear, "Just think how nice it will be when it's a man's larger hands instead of mine." She giggled and finally let go of her sputtering friend.

"You _pig_!" Sakura hissed, avoiding Sasuke's eyes.

"_Virgin_!" Ino sang loudly. "For god's sake, Forehead, you'd think that I'd—"

There was a firm knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Ino shoved her friend and ran to the front door, Sakura following as she mumbled curses. "Why, if it isn't our hot, _single_, friend, Neji-kun!" Ino said, a devilish glint in her eye. "What are you doing here?"

"Hn." The light-eyed man looked disapprovingly at Ino and her flirtatious informality before looking past her to see Sakura coming down the hall. "Haruno-san." He watched her with an expression of appreciation as the pretty girl walked up to him wearing a rather nice red dress.

"Oh, hello, Hyuuga-san. Is something wrong?" Neji had only come to her place once before and that was to deliver an urgent message from the Hokage.

Ino grinned when she noticed the pink rose he held behind his back.

"I just got back from my mission and I thought I'd see about that lunch we spoke of on your return to Konoha. But I see you're going out."

'_Lunch_?' She tried to remember when she'd agreed to have lunch with Neji. Memories of an ANBU interception as she and her captive cats neared the village gates surfaced.

_"Are you injured, Haruno-san?" _

_"I am fine, Hyuuga-san, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't anxious to get home to my own bed." She clung tightly to Sasuke's furry body as he wriggled between her breasts._

_"I am sorry for delaying you. Perhaps I can make it up to you by buying you lunch after we return from our mission?" _

_"Ah…sure. That would be nice, Hyuuga-san." she said, anxious to send him on his way. "Itterrashai."_

_"Ittekimasu, Sakura-san." _

Sakura mentally slapped her forehead. She'd completely forgotten that meeting outside Konoha.

When Neji cleared his throat, she said, "Er, I'm sorry, but it's getting late and Ino and I were just going—"

"_Nowhere important!_" Ino finished her sentence, grabbed her arm, and pushed her toward Neji. "Instead of lunch, why don't you take Sakura out for an early dinner, Neji-kun?"

One corner of Neji's lip curled and he brought the rose out from behind his back, handing it to Sakura. "Would you care to accompany me to dinner, Haruno-san?"

"She'd love to!" Ino answered, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him through the doorway. "Come in! Sit down. Just give her ten minutes to finish getting ready." Ino dragged Sakura back to her room while Neji stepped into the living room.

Sakura shut the door behind her. "Ino!" She hissed in a loud whisper, "What are you doing?!"

"I'm getting you _laid_!" Ino whispered back excitedly. "By the _hottest_ bachelor in Konoha, no less!"

"I'm not having _sex_ with _Hyuuga Neji_!"

"Don't worry. He's laced so tight, I bet he's a virgin, too. It'll be the first time for you both! Tenten said his uncle is making him choose a wife. You play this right and it could be _you_!"

"_Pig_!" Sakura stomped her foot.

Ino studied her critically, nodding her approval. "There's no doubt he wants you, Forehead. Why else would he come here with a pink rose? And _why_ didn't you tell me that he already asked you out?" she huffed. "You _have_ to tell me these things!"

"Because he didn't—at least, I didn't think he did."

Ino rolled her eyes. "You are so clueless! Come on. You need makeup." She pulled Sakura's skirt up her thigh a bit. "Thank god you shaved your legs, Forehead." Ino pushed her into the chair in front of the mirror.

"Ino, I can't do this." She glanced over to where Sasuke was staring maliciously at her from the bed. "I have responsibilities."

"Your only responsibility today is to go out and have a nice dinner with Neji. Then bring him home, throw him on your bed, and screw his brains out."

"_Pig_!" Sakura's face flushed beet red.

"And for god's sake, lock that damn cat in the bathroom when you do." Ino looked at the cat staring them down in the mirror. "He looks positively evil! He'll totally kill the mood."

Sakura put her hands over her face to avoid Sasuke's glare while her hair was pinned up.

"There! You look gorgeous." Ino slapped Sakura's hands down as she handed her a pair of sexy, black heels. "Put some lip gloss on and stop blushing! Just relax and let it come natural. I saw the way he looked at you. He'll make the all right moves. Don't worry! Just follow his lead," she advised sagely. "Don't strong-arm him. Let him undress you—guys _love_ that."

Putting on the lip gloss with shaking hands, Sakura caught Sasuke's glare in the mirror. "Ino…I don't _want_ to go out with Neji."

"Too late for that. You don't want to be rude to him. Come on. Get out there." Ino pushed Sakura out of her bedroom with a crafty smile, being careful to slam the door shut before the cat could follow.

Ino sat down on Sakura's bed, grabbing the cat by the scruff of its neck. "Oh, no you don't, kitty. We're gonna give Sakura a little help." She dropped the cat, settled into the pillows then made the hand signals for her Shin-Ten-Shin.

When she fell, boneless, against the bed, Sasuke knew exactly what she was up to.

0o0o0

Sakura let go of the bedroom door handle when she realized Ino locked it.

'There's no way Sasuke-kun would say something to Ino, right?' Sakura wrung her hands. 'I'll just explain to Neji that I have a headache and can't go out.'

She took one step and it hit her.

"_No! Pig! Get out of my head!"_

"_In a minute." Ino brushed her off as she took control of Sakura's body with her body switch jutsu. "Knowing you, you'll end the date before it starts and I'm not going to let you. This guy's a keeper."_

Ino walked Sakura's body down the hall, swinging her hips seductively. She smiled warmly at the man sitting on the couch. "I hope I haven't made you wait too long?"

"Of course not, Haruno-san." Neji smiled back charmingly.

"Please, call me Sakura. We've known each other for so long."

"Okay, Sakura. Please call me Neji."

_Sakura watched helplessly as Ino extended her hand to Neji and he kissed it. 'I can't even blush with that pig in control.' _

"_Forehead, you owe me big time." Ino whispered. "He's so hot!"_

"You look beautiful, Sakura."

"Thank you, Neji." She leaned on tiptoe and dropped a soft kiss on his cheek. "I've been looking forward to going out with you. Should we go?"

Neji put his hand on the small of her back, guiding her to the door as his deep voice rumbled near her ear, "Let's."

_Ino groaned in her head rapturously. "God, Forehead! He smells so fricken good! I'm soooo jealous!" _

'_Dear god,' Sakura thought. 'I've been hijacked! What if she makes me go all the way with him?!' She felt a bit faint. This was not the way she'd pictured losing her virginity—her best friend drooling in her head the whole time over how hot her partner was. _

As soon as the door closed behind them, Ino wished her friend good luck and let her go from the Shin-Ten-Shin jutsu. Sakura stumbled only slightly, but Neji steadied her and kept his hand on the small of her back all the way to the restaurant.

'His hand's much larger than it seemed when the pig was in control,' she thought, remembering Ino's friendly grope from before as her imagination positively raced ahead of her. Now Sakura's face was free to blush and blush it did—all the way to the restaurant.

0o0o0

Staring in irritation at the huge, blue-gray cat that lazed on the porch of the Uchiha estate, Tobi growled, "Have you had quite enough yet?"

Kisame opened one coal-black eye and looked at the marbled cat who was once the leader of the Akatsuki organization. "I don't know what you mean, I'm sure." He turned over to sun his other side.

Tail twitching, Tobi jumped up on the railing to cast a shadow over the cat sunning himself. "Quit fooling around with that b—"

"I'm not fooling around. I'm gathering intelligence."

"_Really_? And what have you discovered, aside from her favorite choice of sake?!"

Kisame had the grace to look a bit sheepish at the slight. Perhaps he had been more interested in the pretty Hokage's likes and dislikes than finding out her village's weaknesses.

Before he'd been captured, he'd led a jaded existence—one where you were either the betrayer, or the one who was betrayed.

Lately, he'd seen a different side of life. Not being the largest, scariest person in the room allowed people to let down their guard around him. And, amazingly, Tsunade had let hers down the most, telling him of how she came to be the Hokage. He'd been impressed by her courage to give the village a second chance after her dreams were crushed. Perhaps he too could have a fresh start someday. The former Mist ninja had an idea of where he wanted to make that start.

"What can I say?" he yawned, rolling over into a new patch of sunshine. "I'm working on it."

'My hardened warriors have become soft and lazy!' Pissed off beyond belief, Tobi dug his claws so tightly into the post he sat on that they stuck. He spit and cursed as he tried to free himself and Kisame chuckled.

0o0o0

Ino came back to herself and rose from the bed with a giggle.

"He can't keep his hands off her!" She hooted loudly, dancing around. "Sakura's finally gonna lose the big V tonight, Sasuke-kun!" The ornery cat glared at her. "And it won't be to your _stupid_ namesake!"

Ino looked around Sakura's room. "We gotta make this place presentable. Can't have them coming back to a messy room, can we? Not that they'll notice," she added with a wicked smirk.

Grabbing her purse, she dug through it, looking for something. "Here we go," Ino murmured, snickering. "No glove, no love." She took out a handful of condoms and placed them on top of the nightstand. "Forehead doesn't need to get knocked up right away. Plenty of time for that later, ne, Sasuke-kun?" She giggled girlishly.

She took the picture of Team Seven from Sakura's bedside. "Once Neji takes her, she's gonna stop carrying a torch for this asshole." She stuck her tongue out at Sasuke's likeness and stuffed the frame in a drawer. Ino started to straighten the bed, but he stretched out, refusing to move, so she picked him up.

"No Sasuke-kun's allowed in Sakura's bed," she scolded happily. "This place is reserved for Neji's hot body. Sasuke can go to _hell_. He's not gonna break my best friend's heart anymore. He's _never_ _ever_ gonna touch her."

The cat hissed at her.

"I knew it! You're a little troublemaker, aren't you?" She tossed him in the bathroom and shut the door so he couldn't escape. "Sakura will let you out in the morning after Neji leaves, Sasuke-kun. Ugh! She's _got_ to pick a new name for that cat or Neji will _hate_ it."

She smirked, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder. "My work's done here. Now to spy on Forehead to make sure she doesn't mess up her first date with her future husband. Bye-bye, _Sasuke_-_kun_."

0o0o0

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Itachi sat at the top of the entrance gate which guarded the city of Konoha. Back when he lived in Konoha, he'd drawn gate duty only two times. It seemed his superiors would reassign him whenever his turn came up. Despite being a Chunin and possessing advanced skills, visiting ninja did not take him seriously because he was only ten years old. A child protecting the entrance to the village gave the impression that Konoha was struggling, so he'd been assigned the more difficult night duty.

'Not that I minded.' Itachi's tail swung back and forth as he watched strangers come and go through the gate. 'I enjoyed the solitude of night duty.' He'd never been a social butterfly. 'Unlike cousin Shisui,' he thought with a wistful smirk.

A caustic whine caused his sensitive ears to twitch.

"Why can't we go in?" a brash voice argued with Hyuuga Ko, one of the sentries on duty. "You just let those people right in without even stopping them?!" The loud redhead pushed her glasses up her nose in a huff.

"I wonder what made you chose such characters as these, Sasuke-kun," the black cat said softly to himself, so as not to draw attention. He was supposed to be hiding in Sakura's apartment until they went back to the Uchiha district. But after his meeting with the Hokage, he'd taken a detour to sun himself and see how much the village had changed.

Team Taka didn't know it, but Hyuuga Ko had engaged his bloodline trait. His Byakugan was trained on tall, quiet Juugo with interest, but he spoke to Suigetsu while ignoring the complaining kunoichi completely. "If you are willing to leave your weapon with us, we'll see about allowing your group into the village, sir."

"No way!" Suigetsu hugged his enormous sword. "I'm not leaving my precious here where anyone can come along and take it!"

"Shut up and give it to him, Suigetsu!" Karin growled. As the two argued loudly, Juugo looked uncomfortable, the crowd they were drawing making him uneasy. Finally, he took both Karin and Suigetsu by their elbows, apologized to Ko, and dragged them from Konoha's gates, back into the woods.

Itachi rose, stretching lazily, and ambled off after them.

0o0o0

When Sasuke heard the front door shut behind Ino, he desperately tried to open the bathroom door. After several frustrating hours, his ears perked up at the sound of muffled voices.

'Sakura's home!'

He listened intently as the key turned in the lock. Sakura laughed softly and started to say goodnight when Neji interrupted her, asking to use her bathroom. His lame excuse was that his hands were sticky from dessert. Sakura invited him in, asking politely if he'd care for a cup of tea.

"That would be lovely, Sakura-chan," Neji purred. Sasuke wanted to puke at the saccharine tone in his deep voice. When he opened the bathroom door, Sasuke bolted straight for the kitchen.

"Sas—!" Sakura's hand covered her mouth when she started to say his name out loud. "What are you _doing_?" she hissed.

"Did you say something, Sakura-chan?" Neji stuck his head out, thinking she'd called him.

"No. Sorry. My cat just surprised me. That's all."

Neji nodded and closed the door.

"You've got to get rid of him," Sasuke ordered.

"I'm trying. I've _been_ trying. He's very persistent," she murmured quietly, taking two teacups from the cupboard. "Why does it bother you anyway?"

"Ino put condoms on your nightstand."

One of the cups slipped from her hand and smashed all over the floor. Neji appeared out of nowhere.

"Sakura-chan! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she assured him. "Just a little clumsy."

He crouched beside her when she bent to pick up the broken china. "I'll clean this up." His voice was soft and dark. "You'll cut your feet in those shoes." He ran his fingertips along the straps of her heels, tracing patterns in the skin of her ankle, skimming his hand up her calf. Before she could argue, he swept her off her feet and carried her to the living room. He smiled, his hand lingering behind her knee, before returning to the kitchen.

Sasuke jumped beside the blushing girl who was staring at the irritating man in the next room a bit oddly. "Get rid of him _now_, damn it!"

Sakura blinked at him and shrugged lightly. "What am I supposed to do, Sasuke-kun? Tell him to get the hell out? He's been nothing short of a gentleman, kind and considerate all night."

Neji came in, carrying two teacups. "Thank you, Neji-san," she said as he handed her one.

"_Neji_ is good. Like you said earlier, Sakura-chan, we've known each other practically our whole lives. And although we haven't been close, I've watched you grow into the lovely, accomplished woman you are today."

"Ah, thanks. That's very…nice of you to say."

"Sakura, I'm going to ask your mother's permission to court you."

"Uh, I don't know about that, Neji-sa—Neji. I'm very busy. I have little time for—"

He took her hand between both of his own. Swallowed up so easily, Ino's whispers about a man's hands came back to her and heat crawled up her cheeks. Neji nodded his approval of her pretty, pink flush and squeezed her hand lightly.

"I know you're busy. You're a very important part of our village. That's part of the reason I like you so much." His stoic look returned for a second. "But I won't accept no for an answer, Sakura-chan." He edged closer, leaning his head toward hers to press a kiss on her lips.

Sasuke jumped onto her lap, standing on his back feet to come between them. He was suddenly hit with an awful sense of déjà vu. With male lips coming at him, he remembered that day in ninja school when the dobe lost his balance and fell on him, pressing their lips together. There was no way his second kiss was going to be a replay of the first. Sasuke stuck out his paws, putting them on Neji's face to push him away.

Neji's eyes widened in surprise. "Seems your cat's jealous."

Sasuke growled.

"Ah, no," Sakura said anxiously, silently thanking Sasuke in her head. "He's probably just…hungry. Yes! We left so quickly, I forgot to feed him." Sakura picked Sasuke up and used him as a barrier between herself and Neji. "He gets a little ornery when he's hungry or wants to go outside."

"Hn." Neji eyed the cat irritably—the damn thing had messed up a perfect date. "You should get him fixed. That will even out his temper."

Sakura squeezed Sasuke closer when he hissed. "I should really feed him now, Neji-san—then I have to get some sleep. I have an early shift and I'm on call tonight for emergency."

The smug expression on the feline's face made Neji's eyebrows rise. He did _not_ like Sakura's cat.

0o0o0

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	35. Chapter 35 Old Friends

DNON

A/N-Happy Holidays, everyone!

I'm so happy to be back! Now that fall is passing and winter's setting in I get more time to work on my stories and find time to read my favorite authors. _Ack!_ I'm so far behind!

I'm working on updating Gravity next, then I'm gonna dig into my other stories. My lovely beta's making sure that I catch up on _everything_.

I want to thank Sakura's Unicorn for cracking the whip at me. I love to write, but life catches me up, and I forget to sit down and take a little time for my passion. She always whacks some sense back into me.

I also want to thank another friend who, funny enough, goes by the name Kakashi online. He gave me some inspiration for part of this chapter and I used one of his poetic turns of phrase about his muse, Icha-Icha, with his permission of course. Believe me, it was an entertaining conversation, lol.

Lastly, I want to thank you guys for reading my stories and sharing your reviews with me. I enjoy them very much. I hope you enjoy the new, extra long chapter.

Thanks!

K&K

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Cat-O-Nine Tails

Chapter 35—Old Friends

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched in irritation and she slammed her hand on the desk hard enough to crack it. 'Shit,' she thought. 'Shizune's going to pitch a fit.'

"Believe it or not, I've _handled_ the position of Hokage just fine for several years. And I've managed that without locking up my ninja or corralling them inside the village."

"Danzo-sama only has the best interests of—"

"Danzo's despotic dictations will drive this village into the—" Tsunade paused, holding her hand to her head. "You'll have to excuse me, Homura-san. I suddenly have a splitting headache." She pressed the intercom on her desk. "Shizune, please show the Council out." She turned to the Elders, smiling. "Thank you for all your guidance. I'll take it under advisement and have an answer soon."

'When hell freezes over,' she thought, snarling at the old badgers' backs as they left. She massaged her temples. The officious oldies really _had_ given her a headache, she thought as she checked her drawer and found nothing but an empty sake bottle.

'Shizune found my stash again, damn it!'

Tsunade opened the window in the corner of her office for some fresh air. "Ugh!" She stepped back when rain blew in sideways. "It's raining cats and dogs out here!"

Just as she was about to slam down the pane, she spied a soggy feline huddled on the corner of the slanted roof. "How long have you been sitting out here, Uchiha Itachi?"

The black cat's ear twitched, flicking water from it. "Long enough to hear you berate the Council of Elders for meddling, Hokage-sama." He coughed weakly.

"You heard nothing, young man." She smirked, picking up the soaking, shivering feline and depositing him on her desk. "Sakura's going to skin you alive for getting yourself into this condition, you know."

"Hn," Itachi grunted. "It was unavoidable. I was following a group of suspicio-us persons who attempted to enter the village this morning."

"Suspicious, eh?" she asked, looking through her drawers for something to dry him off with. "And do you happen to know who these persons are?"

"They were traveling with Sasuke before Sakura captured him."

"His team is looking for him?" Tsunade stood up with a towel in her hand, looking slightly concerned. "It was only a matter of time before someone came sniffing around I guess."

"The female with them is a tracker ninja. They're camping on the east side of the forest, outside of the village," Itachi began as he recalled tracking Team Taka this afternoon for the Hokage.

0o0o0

Once Taka moved from Konoha's bustling main gates to the woods, the silent member of the trio seemed to relax even though the other two didn't change their behavior. Itachi got the feeling he didn't care for crowds.

As the tall boy leaned against a tree trunk, birds and small animals gravitated toward him, landing on his outstretched fingers and playing at his feet. The tiny sparrows flitting back and forth calmed the boy, but they were a rather irritating distraction to Itachi in his feline form. It was hard to stay focused while his eyes instinctively followed their movements.

"I'm hungry," Karin whined.

"Then eat."

"I'm sick of trail rations."

"I'm sick of _you_."

"You are such an idiot!" she huffed. "Why didn't you just surrender your sword at the gate? They would've given it back when we left! I could be sitting at a nice restaurant right now."

"Shut up! What do you know? They probably say crap like that just before they lock you up in a cell and throw away the key!"

A squirrel chattered and squeaked at Juugo before jumping from his shoulder and racing off. "Guys…"

"What self-respecting ninja is gonna just hand over his weapons, woman?"

"Respect?" Karin sneered. "Who respects you?"

"Uh, guys…" Juugo scratched his head, trying to figure out how to get their attention as yet another bird landed on his shoulder, twittering in his ear. He checked the sky, sighed and nodded, thanking the little sparrow before it flew off.

Itachi's Sharingan picked up on the anxious bird's faint trail of yellow chakra as it joined blues, greens, and reds dancing in the branches above. 'Why have I never noticed the chakra signatures of small animals before?' he wondered. 'Maybe it's these feline senses—they seem to be incredibly attuned to the barely perceptible chakra in the twitch of a squirrel's tail or in the flit of a bird's wing.'

"And why the hell can't you find Sasuke anyhow?" Suigetsu's booming accusation cut off Itachi's train of thought. "What happened to all that crap about—" his voice became high pitched and whiny, "'Oh, I can fine _my_ Sasuke-kun _anywhere_!'"

"It's not my fault, asshole. That witch put a spell on him!" Karin wailed, pulling her hair. "This morning, I could feel him clear as day and then…he was just _gone!_" Karin whined.

The seal she'd given her love had vanished, too, about half an hour before she lost all trace of Sasuke's chakra. Of course, with her extraordinary abilities, she didn't need the seal to find him, but it had marked him as hers and hers alone—and now it was gone!

An idea came to Itachi then, just as the heavens opened up and it started to pour.

The Mist ninja laughed, raising his face to the rain as the redhead screamed. Juugo pulled his cloak over his head, plodding off toward the shelter that the animals told him about, unsure whether his two noisy teammates would follow.

0o0o0

"I think I know why the tracker ninja is having problems pinpointing Sasuke's whereabouts, Hokage-sama." Itachi sneezed, shook the water from his ears, and allowed Tsunade to dry his fur with a towel. "Sasuke's team won't leave until they find him, but I have an idea of how to keep him hidden until they can be taken care of."

"All right. I'll send an ANBU unit to check them out," she decided. "You should warn Sasuke again that if he gets too far away from either me or Sakura, he'll remain a cat forever." Tsunade mumbled absently, listening to the broken wheeze coming from Itachi's lungs. The glow of healing chakra lit her hands. "As for you, Uchiha Itachi, sit still."

0o0o0

0o0o0

Sakura leaned back on the door after Neji left, closed her eyes, and heaved a sigh of relief. When she opened them again, Sasuke was sitting in front of her, staring with that crabby puss.

'He's been through the wringer today, too,' her Inner reminded. Sasuke had been jabbed with needles, half drowned, and locked in the bathroom. 'Plus, you do owe him big time for saving you from the Kissing Bandit.'

Sakura snorted at her Inner's nickname for Neji.Who would've thought an ice-cold Hyuuga would be so amorous?

"Ah, thanks for the save, Sasuke-kun." She tried to smile a bit. "Now, can we please forget this day ever happened?"

"Hn." He flicked his ear in irritation and walked away.

Sakura shook her head. 'Great, now Sasuke will be even more cross. I'll get that Ino-pig if it's the last thing I do,' she thought. 'Maybe some blue dye will end up in her shampoo.' She savored the sweet taste of revenge. 'I feel awful that Neji might've been led to believe I want to marry him. Other than being ninja, the two of us really have nothing in common. What was Ino thinking?!_' _

'Even you can see that Neji is handsome. Ino was thinking with her hormones, as usual,' her Inner said.

Sakura waved her hand, dismissing Sasuke's sour kitty face and all thoughts of being sucked into the Hyuuga clan against her will through her best friend's good intentions. She picked up the teacups, setting them in the sink when someone else pounded on her door.

"If that's Neji, I'm not answering," she grumbled. There was only one irritating man she could put up with at a time and Sasuke was stuck with her. She looked through the peephole and opened the door.

"Hello, Naruto." She glanced at Sasuke who was hiding behind the chair.

"Sakura-chan! Big emergency at the hospital! Kakashi broke his skull and he needs you on the double!" Naruto's head darted around, looking behind her as he spoke.

"Really?" She watched him curiously. "I thought he left on a mission this morning?" She knew Kakashi was at the Uchiha estate.

"Ne, ne, are you alone?" Naruto whispered comically loud.

"Yes," she whispered back. "Except for you, _baka_."

"Oh, good." Naruto waved his hands. "Forget that then. I was just trying to give you an out in case that Hyuuga bastard was around."

She crossed her arms, raising a single pink eyebrow. "And how do you know about that?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, smiling sheepishly. "Well, I saw Neji stroll toward your place earlier and didn't think anything of it, but then I was at Ichiraku's, eating with Shino and Choji, when Ino came running in. She was saying how she got him to drag you out on a date." The blond boy growled. "I wanted to save you, Sakura-chan, but she wouldn't tell me where you went! So, I spent two hours checking every place in town and the last place I went to said you'd just left. So I came back here."

Sakura scoffed lightly. "So you came here to break me out, eh?"

"Yep!" Naruto grinned smugly. "I'm your knight in shining armor, dattebayo."

Sakura frowned, tapping her foot. "What if I didn't want you to?"

"_Eh_?!" Naruto's haughty expression dropped to the floor. "Uh…I don't know." He shrugged. "I just figured you would never want to date Neji. He's so boring, he makes Teme look like Mr. Personality and—"

Sakura interrupted him with a big hug.

"Arigato, Naruto. I wish you could have been here earlier."

"You want me to challenge him, Sakura-chan?" He grinned down at her, blue eyes twinkling. "I could kick his ass, dattebayo!"

"No, no. Don't bother." She shook her head quickly. "Neji's a smart guy. He'll get the hint pretty soon, I hope."

He frowned. "Ino said that bastard kissed you. _Twice!_"

"That's, um, not exactly true." She shrugged, blushing a little. Hoping to change the subject, she said, "Hey, you wanna come in and watch a movie? That way, you can be here if Neji or Ino-pig comes back." She smiled, poking him in the ribs. "If they do, they're all yours."

"You got it, Sakura-chan." Naruto's face lit up. "Got any horror?"

"Yeah. Pick something out." She locked the door. "I'll make popcorn."

Naruto hesitated, scratching his head. "Ne, Ino said something else, too."

Sakura froze halfway between the kitchen and living room.

"She said you have a cat named Sasuke."

'That blabbermouth Ino-pig!' Sakura exhaled. At least her irritating best friend hadn't said anything about Sakura having sex with Neji. 'Throwing condoms on my nightstand right in front of Sasuke—what must he think?!' Her eye twitched. 'I'm so gonna _kill_ her!'

"I do. He's around here somewhere." She shrugged, trying to act indifferent. "Naruto, I'm going to get out of this silly dress. Be right back." Sakura went into her room to change into pajamas.

"A cat named Sasuke, eh?" The blond mused, watching her go. "You must really miss Teme, Sakura-chan." Naruto flipped through the stack of videos they'd seen many times before yelling down the hall. "Hey, how about _Killer Clown Ninjas from Mars, _dattebayo?"

"Naruto, you hate clowns," she groaned, coming from her room in pajamas. "They give you nightmares."

"Not always." He grinned insolently. "Just if I eat lots of ramen before bed."

"When _don't_ you eat lots of…ugh, nevermind." She gave up. "Put it in. Do you want a beer?"

"Sure." He flicked on the TV. "Ne, too bad Kakashi's gone. He could come over, too."

"Yeah. I know he'll be back in a couple of days, though," she informed him, wishing she could just tell him the truth. "Then we can have another movie night."

"Okay. Maybe we can all bring dates," he snickered. "You can bring Hyuuga Stick-Up-His-Arrogant-Ass-san."

"No way, baka!" She shook her head. "And that's not nice. Ino told me his uncle's forcing him to find a wife. Poor thing. He probably wouldn't even look at me twice if he wasn't so desperate."

"Nah, you're a good catch." Naruto flopped on the couch, his arms behind his head, leaning back. "Pretty. Smart. You're the best doctor around—'sides baachan—and you have good political ties. I'm surprised more clansmen aren't after you to make little pink-haired babies." He waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.

"Ugh." She wrinkled her nose at the thought. "Please don't say that."

"That's all right, Sakura-chan." He grinned assuredly. "Kakashi-sensei and I'll drive them all away until Sasuke comes home, tebayo. Unless you've changed you mind and want to marry _me_ instead?" he teased good-naturedly.

She frowned, wondering if Sasuke was listening. "Shut up, Naruto no baka."

He chuckled, putting his feet up on the coffee table. "Ne, do you think Teme thinks about us much?"

She shrugged lightly. "Sometimes, sure."

"Hey, is that your cat?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling softly. "That's Sasuke-kun."

Naruto noticed the affectionate look in her eye when she smiled at the cat. 'Does she miss Sasuke so much she'd name her pet after him?' he thought worriedly. 'Maybe she might be better off going out with a few sticks-in-the-mud to get her mind off him.' But when he imagined Sakura dating, his face twisted. 'Nah!'

"He kinda looks like the bastard." He grinned. "Hey, Teme."

The cat sat on the arm of the chair, ignoring him completely.

"Oh, yeah. Just like that arrogant asshole," he said with a chuckle. "Now I see why you named him Sasuke."

"_Che_," she scoffed. "Shut up and watch the movie, Naruto." Sakura pressed the play button as she lay down on the couch, using his knee as a pillow.

He raptly watched the movie until a particularly creepy clown jumped up on the screen. "Ew!" Naruto cried, holding his bottle in front of him to block out the disturbing image and looking away from the television. It was then that he noticed Sakura was already asleep. He spied her cat sitting on the edge of a chair.

"Come here, Teme. You can sit by us." He patted the couch in front of Sakura and, after a minute or so, Sasuke jumped up next to her. Naruto set down a coaster with beer in it and a handful of popcorn. "Don't tell Sakura I gave you this. She'll scalp me, tebayo."

Sasuke was silent, choosing instead to drink from the coaster.

"Oh, man." Naruto stretched out and leaned back on the cushion, being careful not to move Sakura too much. "We've both been so busy. We hardly get to go out on missions together anymore. I gotta figure out how to keep her away from Neji. She'd die of boredom being married to that stuffed shirt," he groaned. "I bet he'd put her out to pasture in the Hyuuga compound and make her have a bunch of kids. You don't ever see the Hyuuga wives come out of that place. She'd be better off with Rock Lee than him. Although, we both know who her heart is set on."

Sasuke finished his saucer of beer and looked up, licking his chops. Naruto refilled his coaster.

"Damn, I miss the old Team Seven. When we get back together we're gonna be the most ass kicking-est team in the five nations. Believe it, Teme."

The cat watched him silently, considering. The tip of his tail swung back and forth.

"Man, you really do remind me of Sasuke," the blond said through a yawn. "She really misses that bastard, you know. We all do." Naruto tucked his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep. Just before he fell out, he swore he heard Sasuke.

"Dobe."

"Teme," he mumbled, snoring loudly.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Kakashi walked back into the house at the unusually quiet Uchiha district and found Sai in the living room, reading one of his how-to books. The boy was surrounded by Akatsuki criminals who'd been turned into cats. He glanced at the title in Sai's hand.

_How To Please Your Pussy_

The copy-nin slapped his hand over his good eye and sighed. "Sai-kun…I don't think that's appropriate reading material for work."

The pale ANBU looked up from chapter five and smiled emotionlessly. Deidara sat on the right arm of the sofa, his long, orange tail swinging with interest as he scanned the pages with bright his blue eyes. Kakuzu and Hidan peered from the back of the couch—Kakuzu looking mildly bored while Hidan nudged the back of Sai's head whenever he finished a page. Kisame sat to the left of Sai, occasionally chuckling with his deep bass tone when something he read tickled him. Even Sasori sat behind the group of Akatsuki cats, high up on a bookshelf, half-asleep and seemingly disinterested, but Kakashi could see that his one eye was slit open and locked on the book in Sai's lap.

On top of the bookcase, Tobi glowered at the lot of them, his tail twitching in irritation and a soft, low growl rumbling in his throat. Kakashi watched for a few moments, observing the odd demeanor before Tobi noticed him. His entire personality did a one-eighty.

"Tobi can't see!" the marbled black and orange cat yelled as he leapt down between the Zombie Twins, who batted him out of the way. When he then tried to usurp Deidara's spot, the blue-eyed cat swatted him thoroughly, making him tumble from the sofa. Tobi whined about being a good boy as he climbed back up to sit next to Kisame.

"Good day, Hatake-san. I had thought to read up on the care and training of cats." As he held the book up to mark the page and close it, Deidara stuck his six-toed paw between the pages, preventing him from shutting the book. Sai opened it back up for the cats to see. "They seem to enjoy it." Sai hooked his thumb back at the cats flocked around him. "Unfortunately, this book has nothing to do with felines, although the statement on the dust jacket says—"

"I know what it says, Sai. No need to share."

Sai looked mildly surprised. "So you've read this volume? I was under the impression that you read nothing save for the perverted Sennin's pornography?"

Kakashi's eye twitched. "No, Sai, I haven't read it. I read the summary on the back of that book. And Jiraiya-sama doesn't write porn," he said seriously, his eyes alight with memories of his treasured tales. "His books are jam-packed with wonderful stories of couples falling in love." Kakashi held his hand to his heart as he spoke passionately. "They are filled with relatable topics and issues couples are facing currently in the real world—all due to Jiraiya-sama's relentless research," he finished dramatically. "Anyway, Sai, what made you think this book was about cats?" A few of the cats snickered—Kisame and Deidara in particular.

"At the bookstore I overheard two jounin discussing it. One of them said he had his sweet, little pussy tamed three days after reading it. He said she was an impossible hellcat before, but after he followed the instructions in the book, he had her purring like a kitten for him."

Kakashi slapped his forehead.

"I'd say the method is a success, Hatake-san, judging from the calm demeanor of most of the prisoners at the moment."

"Quit your fucking supposing and turn the damn page already!" Hidan swatted Sai's head impatiently.

Shrugging, he turned the page. "At least, most of them are calm. I'd say there's about an eight-five percent success rate. "

"Sai-kun…that's…"

"Not only that," Sai added, pointing at the page, "it says here that shaving your pussy is a very pleasant experience." Sai turned his emotionless gaze toward Hidan. The purple-eyed cat was clueless.

A few of the feline criminals broke out in a fresh chorus of snickers.

"I give up." Kakashi left to find Yamato.

0o0o0

0o0o0

Naruto was the first to wake up, courtesy of the kink in his neck. He grunted as he opened his eyes to see Sakura's fuzzy, black cat curled in her arms, purring contentedly, while she slept soundly.

"Eh, too bad it isn't _that_ easy to catch Sasuke," he grumbled and the cat picked up his head, looking around. Naruto used the remote to flip off the TV.

"Watch this, Teme." He carefully arranged pieces of popcorn on Sakura's eyelids and cheeks then grabbed Sasuke's tail, using it to tickle her nose. Sakura awoke when she slapped herself.

"Damn it, Naruto!" she groused, dusting smashed popcorn off her face and shirt. Sasuke jumped down as Naruto laughed.

"What? We were just having a little fun."

"…_we?"_

"Teme and me."

Sakura turned swiftly to see Sasuke sitting next to the chair, staring at her silently—a barely noticeable shake of his head told her that he had not spilled their secret to their clueless teammate. She sighed, knowing that if Naruto found out, he would blab to everyone how Sasuke was back and they'd never be able to keep the situation under wraps.

"Go home, Naruto."

"No way! It's too early." He stretched out, taking her warm spot on the couch. "Ne, let me sleep a few more hours, dattebayo."

Glancing at the clock to see it was three a.m., she relented. "Fine, but you've got to vacuum this mess up in the morning. Goodnight." She threw a blanket at him and went to her own room, shutting the door.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun, you didn't say anything, right?"

"Hn."

She climbed into bed, turning out the light. By the moonlight coming in through the window, she saw Sasuke jump on the end of her bed and get comfortable.

"Good. You know how bad he is at keeping secrets. You spill and he'll be hanging with you every minute of every day." She smirked at him as he flicked his ear at the irritating thought. "I'll make sure of it," she promised.

0o0o0

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End file.
